Tehran, 03 July (H.S.): Funeral rites for Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the joint United States-Israel military operation on February 28 this year, have begun in Tehran. A distinctive red flag has been placed beside Khamenei's coffin, while the newly appointed commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi, made his first public appearance ahead of the funeral ceremonies.

According to Al Jazeera, Vahidi was seen publicly for the first time since the war with the United States. He appeared beside Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's coffin on Thursday night, ahead of the funeral procession scheduled to begin on July 4. Khamenei's body was brought to the Hosseiniyeh Imam Khomeini, a prominent religious and political venue in Tehran, where farewell ceremonies are being held. Khamenei led Iran for more than three decades.

Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi recently succeeded Mohammad Pakpour as the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Pakpour was reportedly killed during the initial US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Vahidi attended the funeral ceremony for the late Supreme Leader on Thursday night.

Vahidi has been associated with the IRGC since its formation in the late 1970s. He rose through the ranks during the 1980s, serving in key intelligence and military positions. From 1988 to 1997, he commanded the IRGC's Quds Force before handing over leadership to General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike ordered by then-President Donald Trump in 2020.

In December 2025, Supreme Leader Khamenei appointed Vahidi as the deputy commander of the IRGC. Besides his military career, Vahidi has also held senior political offices, serving as Defence Minister under former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and later as Interior Minister during the presidency of the late Ebrahim Raisi.

A special red flag from the Imam Reza Shrine has been placed on Khamenei's coffin. Nader Hashemi, Associate Professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics at Georgetown University, said the red flag symbolises the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad.

Hashemi explained that Husayn ibn Ali was killed in the Battle of Karbala, and his martyrdom remains one of the most significant moral and religious reference points for Shia Muslims. He said the Islamic Republic of Iran appears to be drawing a symbolic parallel between Khamenei's death in the US-Israeli attack and the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar