Iran has begun several days of public mourning and funeral processions for its former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, more than four months after he was killed in strikes launched by the US and Israel.

The former Ayatollah’s body is currently lying in state at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla, ahead of his burial in his hometown of Mashhad next Thursday.

Iranian authorities said 12 to 20 million people were expected to attend the ceremonies, which are part of what they are calling the “funeral of the century”.

It comes as Iran and the US observe a fragile ceasefire after signing a preliminary deal to halt their conflict, in which Khamenei was killed in an air strike.

Footage showed Khamenei’s coffin, bearing the colours of the Islamic Republic, being carried aloft at the Grand Mosalla on Friday.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian was among those paying their respects after the coffin was placed at the vast religious complex.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country has mediated peace talks between the US and Iran, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and the Afghan Taliban’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi were in attendance.