Crowd swells in Tehran ahead of Khamenei funeral procession

A crowd of mourners began to gather Monday on streets in Tehran hours before a funeral procession for Iran's slain supreme leader.

Iran's dayslong funeral for late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei began Saturday, with authorities shutting down streets, airspace and daily life in Tehran as mourners commemorate the life of the man who led Iran for decades with an iron fist while confronting the West.

Thousands of mourners gathered at Enqelab Square in the hope of catching a glimpse of the late leader's coffin on top of a flat-bed truck.

Khamenei, 86, and a number of family members were killed on February 28 in an airstrike at the start of the war launched by Israel and the United States.

Their coffins will be paraded through the streets of Tehran before being taken to Mehrabad International Airport, as Khamenei's remains will be transported to cities across Iran and also neighbouring Iraq.