Large crowds loyal to the Islamic Republic gathered in Tehran at a funeral ceremony for Iran’s former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in joint attacks between the United States and Israel at the start of the war.

His second son and successor, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, was conspicuously absent from his father’s funeral. Ali Khamenei’s three other children, Masoud, Mostafa and Meysam, attended the service held in the capital on Sunday.

Iranian state media says six days of ceremonies will span 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, Lyse Doucet, reports from Tehran on the condition that none of her material be used on the BBC’s Persian service. These restrictions apply to all international media organizations operating in Iran.