“Everyone here wants revenge,” cries an Iranian who, like thousands of compatriots, came to Mashhad for the burial this Thursday of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in his hometown.

The coffin arrived at Mashhad airport, in northeastern Iran, aboard a civilian plane escorted by a fighter jet. Under stifling heat, a crowd awaited him for the final stage of a funeral presented by the authorities as a demonstration of strength and national unity.

Numerous women of all ages, dressed in black chadors, gathered along the avenue leading to the shrine of Imam Reza, the holiest site in Shiite Islam in Iran.

It is in this majestic complex, decorated with multicolored ceramic mosaics and crowned by a golden dome and minaret, where Khamenei, who died in an Israeli-American attack on February 28 at the age of 86, will be buried.

His son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, has still not been seen in public since his appointment in March. Nor has any statement been released on his behalf since the ceremonies began Saturday in Tehran.

Injured during the bombings, the 56-year-old leader has only spoken out through statements read or transmitted in state media.

The funeral of the man who led the Islamic republic for 37 years takes place in a red-hot climate, after a second night of crossed attacks between the United States and Iran, which have as a backdrop the question of whether or not the Islamic republic will be able to charge tolls for the transit of ships in the Strait of Hormuz.