Tehran [Iran], July 6 (ANI): Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday (local time) said the funeral ceremonies for the late Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, were not a farewell but a 'pledge to continue his path,' IRNA reported.

According to IRNA, Pezeshkian made the remarks during an interview with the state broadcaster covering the funeral of Ayatollah Khamenei, who was assassinated in a US-Israeli airstrike on February 28.

'I do not accept the interpretation of 'farewell,'' Pezeshkian said. 'This is not a farewell, but rather a pledge to continue the path,' he added.

The Iranian President expressed condolences over the death of the Leader, his family members and all those who lost their lives in what he described as the war for 'the honour and dignity of Iran and Islam'.

Pezeshkian said the enemy had altered the region's geography by launching a war against Iran, but claimed the conflict had strengthened unity and solidarity among Muslims while exposing what he described as the falsehood of its human rights claims, as reported by IRNA.

'The enemy proved that its talk of freedom and human rights is nothing but a lie,' he said, adding that the Zionists were responsible for crimes in the region with the support of the United States and European countries, IRNA reported.

According to Al Jazeera, the seven-day commemoration began in Tehran on Friday, with funeral ceremonies and public processions scheduled to take place across Iran and Iraq.

Millions of mourners attended prayers for the late Iranian Supreme Leader and four members of his family on Sunday.

Public mourning ceremonies are being held in Tehran, where the coffins of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several of his family members have been placed at the Grand Mosalla, one of Iran's largest prayer complexes, for public viewing, as reported by Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera reported that the funeral processions will continue on Monday and Tuesday as they move south towards the Iranian city of Qom. On Wednesday, an official reception is scheduled at Najaf International Airport in Iraq, followed by public funeral processions in the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala, according to Iranian and Iraqi authorities.

The body will then be returned to Iran for the final burial ceremony at the Imam Reza shrine in the northeastern city of Mashhad on Friday. Mashhad is also the birthplace of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Al Jazeera reported. (ANI)