Iran’s dayslong funeral for late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei began on 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.

Khamenei’s body was taken Wednesday to the Iraqi city of Najaf, holy for millions of Shiite Muslims worldwide, and also to Karbala where Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, was killed in 680 AD. Thousands attended the funeral processions in Iraq before the body was to be returned to Iran.

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