TEHRAN: Iran will hold what it described as “historic” funeral proceedings in Tehran on Saturday for 60 killed in its 12-day war with Israel, including top military commanders and nuclear scientists.
The commemorations will begin at 0800 local time (0430 GMT) at Enghelab (Revolution) Square in central Tehran, followed by a funeral procession to Azadi (Freedom) Square, about 11 kilometres (7 miles) away.
“A brief ceremony will be held there, then the processions of the martyrs will go toward Azadi Square,” said Mohsen Mahmoudi, head of Tehran’s Islamic Development Coordination Council, in a televised interview Friday.
“Tomorrow will be a historic day for Islamic Iran and the revolution,” he added.
Among the dead is General Mohammad Bagheri, a major general in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and the second-in-command of the armed forces after supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
He will be buried alongside his wife and daughter, a journalist for a local media outlet, all killed in an Israeli attack.
Nuclear scientist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, also killed in the attacks, will be buried with his wife.
Four women and four children are among those to be honoured at the funeral ceremony.
The war erupted on June 13 when Israel launched strikes that it said were aimed at halting Iran from developing a nuclear weapon – a charge Tehran denies.
Israeli strikes killed at least 30 top commanders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, according to local media, including its commander-in-chief Hossein Salami and the head of its aerospace forces, Amirali Hajizadeh, who oversaw the country’s ballistic missile programme.
So far, there is no indication that Khamenei will attend the funeral on Saturday.
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He has previously attended ceremonies for high-ranking Iranian authorities, including late president Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last year.
The Iranian health ministry says at least 627 civilians were killed and nearly 4,900 wounded in the Israeli attacks.
Iran’s strikes on Israel also killed 28 people, according to Israeli authorities.
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