Hassan Hasanzadeh

Hassan Hasanzadeh, head of the organizing committee for Ali Khamenei's funeral ceremony, apologized for changes to the route of the procession through Tehran's streets. Iranian media reported that the body of the former Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic and his family members were scheduled to travel from eastern Tehran toward Revolution Square and then Azadi Square. However, according to reports, the specialized vehicle carrying the body ultimately traveled only from in front of Sharif University on Azadi Street to Azadi Square. Some videos published on social media and news outlets showed protests by several participants in eastern Tehran against this unannounced change. Hasanzadeh, who is the commander of the Greater Tehran Corps, stated: "The initial plan was for the vehicle carrying the body to pass through Revolution Street, but the very extensive and premature presence of people and the closure of roads made it impossible to implement this plan." This comes as citizen reports from the past three days published on social media indicate relatively modest attendance at the ceremony held at Tehran's prayer grounds and at Ali Khamenei's funeral procession.

• Initial route: eastern Tehran → Revolution Square → Azadi Square
• Actual route: Sharif University on Azadi Street → Azadi Square
• Reason given: early and extensive crowd presence, closed roads. However, social media reports from citizens over the past three days suggest the attendance at both the prayer grounds ceremony and the funeral procession was not particularly large.