(FILES) A huge crowd attends Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's funeral ceremony at Behesht Zahra cemetery in Tehran on June 6, 1989. The funeral procession for Iran's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei began in Tehran on July 6, 2026, state television reported, as authorities prepared for crowds that could rival those that turned out for his predecessor nearly four decades ago. Authorities are hoping to avoid a repeat of the chaos that marred the 1989 funeral of Khamenei's predecessor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, which drew an estimated 10 million people, according to state news agency IRNA. (Photo by CHRISTOPHE SIMON and PASCAL GEORGE / AFP via Getty Images)