Thousands of Iranians turn out to mourn Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran

For many Iranians, the day began with the news they had feared.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was confirmed dead by Iranian state media on Sunday following a deadly wave of strikes launched by the United States and Israel.

Thousands gathered to pay their respects in Enghelab Square as the warm glow of the Sunday morning sun shone across the Iranian capital. Men were seen hugging and crying, resting against shuttered storefronts, unable to contain their grief.

Civilians marched towards the square as veiled women raised images of the Supreme Leader aloft and chanting in groups, while others simply sat by the roadside, paying their respects from a distance. Opponents of the regime, who turned out in their thousands for protests that faced a brutal crackdown in January, largely stayed off the streets on Sunday.