Millions of Iranians have taken to the streets in Tehran and across the country to commemorate the 40th day since the martyrdom of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, top commanders and school children of Minab.

The mourning procession began on Thursday morning, with participants marching from Jomhouri Square to the location where Ayatollah Khamenei was assassinated in terrorist US-Israeli strikes.

The ceremony, which will end at night, will see mourners chanting slogans, listening to eulogies in memory of the late Leader, and pledging their allegiance to his ideals.

Processions are also being held in hundreds of cities and counties across Iran.

The Leader was assassinated, alongside some of his family members, on February 28, the first day of the illegal aggression launched by the United States and the Israeli regime against Iran. A host of Iran’s top military commanders and advisers were also assassinated, including Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, and Major General Mohammad Pakpour.

The enemies have deliberately targeted Iran’s civilian infrastructure and energy facilities, killing hundreds of people. In one of the deadliest attacks on the first day of the aggression, the US military targeted a primary school in Minab, killing more than 170 civilians, mostly children.

The Iranian armed forces began to swiftly retaliate against the unprovoked military assault by conducting barrages of missile and drone attacks on the Israeli-occupied territories as well as on the US assets in regional countries.

Following 100 waves of Iran’s retaliatory strikes, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) announced on Wednesday that there was an agreement to a Pakistan-brokered two-week ceasefire after the US accepted Iran’s 10-point proposal.

In a statement released on Thursday, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said that the martyrdom of Ayatollah Khamenei was as effective as his lifetime presence in the promotion of Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic.

It also enumerated the resistance and unity of the Iranian nation and the Islamic establishment, as well as 100 fatal strikes by the Iranian armed forces and the enemies’ humiliating retreats, as parts of the blessings of the Leader’s pure blood during the imposed war.

Ayatollah Khamenei’s thought, discourse, conduct and command in the fields of resistance, independence, progress, justice, unity, fight against oppression, and spirituality form a comprehensive system for governing the country, it added.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has condemned the violations of the ceasefire reached between Iran and the United States, vowing that the Islamic Republic will respond “decisively” to any attack.

In a phone call with Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Pezeshkian condemned the attacks carried out on the islands of Lavan and Siri on Wednesday morning.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will respond decisively to any aggression,” he emphasized.

The attacks came despite the announcement of a Pakistan-mediated ceasefire earlier on Wednesday after 41 days of intense fighting between Iran and the US-Israeli coalition.

On Wednesday, the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire after Washington received a 10-point proposal from Tehran.

Amid intensified Israelis strikes on Lebanon, the Iranian president stressed that Iran’s 10-point proposal, which marks a framework for a permanent end to the war, includes the establishment of a ceasefire in Lebanon.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Pezeshkian appreciated Pakistan’s “constructive” efforts to stop the war.

He pointed out that Tehran’s acceptance of the ceasefire despite repeated US violations of its commitments and international law demonstrates Iran’s “responsible and authoritative” approach.

The president urged countries in the region and the world to “seize this opportunity to put pressure on the aggressors in order to avoid repeating the strategic mistake”.

Pezeshkian emphasized that Tehran’s approach hinges on the aggressors’ actual commitment to the principles of negotiation and adherence to their obligations.

He also reiterated that the security of the vital waterway of Hormuz Strait depends on the complete cessation of the US-Israeli aggression.

For his part, Shahbaz Sharif thanked the Islamic Republic for accepting Pakistan’s offer to reach a ceasefire agreement.

He emphasized that all parties should adhere to the ceasefire, calling on the Israeli regime to immediately stop its attacks on Lebanon.

Sharif also reiterated Islamabad’s readiness to engage with all regional countries to advance peace, stability, and security in the Persian Gulf region and West Asia.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan held a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, the Saudi foreign ministry said Thursday, in the first official contact between the countries since Tehran launched strikes against its Gulf neighbours in retaliation for Israeli-American attacks.

“The call focused on reviewing developments in the situation and ways to slow the pace of tensions so as to help restore security and stability in the region,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement, which was issued the day after the announcement of a two-week ceasefire between Iran and the United States.