Three sons of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei performed funeral prayers for him and four other family members in Tehran on Sunday. However, his son and designated successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, was not seen.

State television broadcast footage showing Mostafa, Meysam, and Masoud Khamenei performing the funeral prayers in front of coffins placed in the vast courtyard of the Imam Khomeini Grand Prayer Hall in Tehran, a sprawling religious complex.

The Islamic Republic has organized a week of public mourning ceremonies for Khamenei, including the transfer of the bodies to two cities in neighboring Iraq, in what Iranian media described as a demonstration of national loyalty and a “renewal of the pledge to the ideals of the revolution and Islam.”

After several senior Iranian leaders and foreign officials paid their respects to Khamenei’s coffin, which had been laid out in a spacious hall in Tehran on Friday, it was placed outdoors on Saturday under a glass cover, alongside the coffins of his daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, and his 14-month-old granddaughter.

Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared in public so far, and no images of him have been released. Reports suggest he may have been injured in the February 28 attack that killed his father and other family members, when Israel and the United States reportedly bombed Iranian targets at the start of the war.

Under a ceasefire agreement with Washington, the war that erupted four months ago has now ceased. Iranian authorities say the agreement will ultimately bring significant economic gains, describing it as a victory over a superpower.

Mourning during Khamenei's farewell in Tehran (AFP).

Crowds continued to gather at the Grand Tehran Prayer Hall, even during nighttime hours, with many people weeping while others beat their chests. Tehran’s metro network reported seven million rides between Saturday evening and Sunday morning, as large numbers traveled to the city center to attend the ceremonies.

After the state-organized funeral ceremonies in central Tehran conclude on Monday, the body will be taken to Qom, the center of Shiite religious authority in Iran, where another ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday.

It will then be flown to the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala on Wednesday. The burial is set for Thursday, following another funeral procession in Mashhad near the Imam Reza Shrine, a site of major religious significance for Iranians.