Prayers were to be said over the casket of slain Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei on Sunday, the second day of marathon funeral ceremonies that have already drawn huge crowds to pay their final respects in Tehran.

Authorities have not announced whether a religious figure or a family member will lead the prayers for Khamenei, who ruled Iran from 1989 until he was killed aged 86 in an airstrike on the first day of the West Asia war on February 28.

His son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public since being named supreme leader, and is said to have been wounded in the same attack.

Sunday has been declared a public holiday for the entire country, and in the evening, Khamenei’s body will leave the Grand Mosalla complex where it is lying in state in preparation for processions through the capital planned for Monday.

– AFP