President Masoud Pezeshkian attended the ceremony alongside senior officials, including the parliament speaker and Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, state television footage showed.
Khamenei’s coffin, draped in the Iranian flag and topped with his black turban, was placed alongside the coffins of four relatives also killed in the February strikes, including an infant granddaughter.
Authorities have said they expect more than 10 million people to take part in ceremonies in Tehran.
After five weeks of intense hostilities, the Middle East war is on hold after a ceasefire and an initial accord with the US. But both Washington and Tehran have warned they are ready to resume fighting at any time.
“What is observed today in the emotions, tears, and passionate presence of the people in various scenes is the most telling sign of his position among the Iranian nation and the free people of the world,” Pezeshkian said in a speech on Saturday, accusing Israel in particular of acting as a “destabilising factor” in the Middle East.
“Muslims have shown that they will not surrender to oppression and bullying,” he added.
After Monday’s procession, Khamenei’s coffin will be moved on Tuesday to Qom, then on Wednesday to neighbouring Iraq, before the burial on Thursday in his northeastern hometown of Mashhad.
Significant security measures have been imposed in the capital, and official media has warned attendees of the risk of crowd crushes.
Organisers have also taken measures to mitigate a heatwave that may nudge 40C in Tehran over the next few days, with crowds on Saturday sprayed with mists of water to keep cool at the Grand Mosalla complex.
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