'Largest in human history': Over 43 million join funeral ceremonies for Martyr Leader in Iran, Iraq

Tens of millions of Iranians and devotees from across the world turned the funeral ceremonies for the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, into the largest procession the world has ever witnessed, according to a report.

The six-day grand farewell and burial rites for the revered Leader were held across five cities -- Tehran, Qom, Najaf, Karbala, and Mashhad -- drawing massive, passionate crowds that defied all previous records, the Fars News Agency reported.

The ceremonies included three days in Tehran, two days of public mourning at the Grand Mosalla and one day of the main funeral procession, with each of the other cities hosting a full day of tributes. Many mourners traveled between cities, multiplying the scale of participation and creating a continuous wave of devotion.

Official estimates, compiled from multiple independent field and government sources, confirm that between 41 and 43 million people took part in the historic events.

These figures are based on a rigorous combination of data including public transport passenger records to and from ceremony sites, active mobile phone signals in key areas such as the Mosalla and main procession routes, average individual attendance duration of approximately two and a half hours, detailed crowd density calculations along Tehran’s procession paths, physical area measurements from Jamkaran Mosque to the Holy Shrine in Qom, and the route from the airport to the Imam Reza Holy Shrine in Mashhad.