IRGC Commander Appears in Public as Attending Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's Funeral

JAKARTA - The commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) emerged from hiding as Tehran prepared on Friday for the series of funerals for late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that will last several days.

Photos published online by Iranian state media showed Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi attending Khamenei's funeral procession, then sitting next to his coffin as Iran held a smaller ceremony for him on Thursday night near the former home of the supreme leader in central Tehran, Al Arabiya reported along with The Associated Press (3/7).

Experts say Brig. Gen. Vahidi has been a key figure in formulating Iran's hardline stance in negotiating a possible permanent end to the war with the United States.

He is believed to be part of a small group in direct contact with Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has remained in hiding after reportedly being wounded in an Israeli attack on February 28 that killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Brig. Gen. Vahidi himself has not been seen in public since February 8, weeks before the Iran war began.

Videos published by Iranian state media showed a mourning ceremony for Khamenei at his residence in Tehran.

As previously reported, the funeral procession for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will begin Saturday.

However, official tribute ceremonies for heads of state, senior officials and religious leaders of various countries were held on Friday.

As previously reported, Khamenei's coffin, as well as a number of members of his family, was placed at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla in Tehran on Friday, quoted from CNN.

Iranian government media reported that the other coffins were Seyyedeh Boshra Hosseini Khamenei (Khamenei's eldest daughter), Mesbah-ol-Hoda Bagheri (son-in-law), Zahra Haddad Adel (daughter-in-law) and Zahra Mohammadi Golpaygani (14 months) who are Khamenei's grandchildren.

IRIB reported that a number of religious figures from Indonesia and Afghanistan were among the first to pay their last respects at the Grand Mosalla.

Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref, who was the main organizer of the funeral, described the ceremony, which began on Saturday in Tehran and will end with a funeral on Thursday in Mashhad, as "the most important event of this century" and the most attended event since the 1979 revolution, quoted from The Guardian.

A series of funerals on Saturday will be held at Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla, Tehran, where Khamenei and his family will be buried.

A six-mile (10 km) procession through central Tehran is planned on Monday from Imam Hossein Square to Azadi Square, the site of the 1979 revolution led by Khamenei after the death of the first supreme leader, Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1989 from natural causes.

Tehran's mayor, Alireza Zakani, described Monday's procession as "the largest gathering in the city's history" and estimated that around 20 million people would attend.

On Tuesday, Khamenei's body will be taken to the holy city of Qom, passing between the tomb of Fatima Masumeh and the Jamkaran Mosque.

Then, the body will be taken to the Iraqi Shiite strongholds of Karbala and Najaf on Wednesday. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has visited both cities to consult on the ceremony.

Meanwhile, the funeral on Thursday will take place at the Imam Reza Cemetery Complex in Mashhad, the birthplace of the supreme leader.