See: Emotion and politics merge at the funeral of a former top leader in Tehran

Thousands of people loyal to the Islamic Republic have gathered in Tehran for the funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s former supreme leader, who was killed in a joint US-Israeli strike at the start of the war.

His second son and successor leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was conspicuously absent from his father’s funeral. Ali Khamenei’s three other sons – Masoud, Mustafa and Maysam – all attended Sunday’s service in the capital.

According to Iranian state media, the six-day ceremony will take place at several locations in Iran and neighboring Iraq before the late Ayatollah is buried in his hometown of Mashhad on Thursday.

The BBC’s chief international correspondent, Liz Doucet, reported from Tehran that none of her material would be used on the BBC’s Persian service. These restrictions apply to all international media organizations operating in Iran.