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The caskets of Revolutionary Guard’s Chief General Hossein Salami, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh and others were driven through the city’s Azadi Street. Coffins were draped in the Iranian flag with large portraits of those killed attached.
Both Salami and Hajizadeh were killed on the first day of the conflict, June 13, when Israel launched a war it claimed was intended to destroy Iran’s nuclear programme.
State media reported that the state funerals were for 60 people, including four women and four children, and that more than 1 million people turned out for the procession, though the latter cannot be independently verified.
The funeral procession did have a large turnout, which saw mourners line the street waving flags as they chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was not immediately present at the funeral. Khamenei has not made a public appearance since before the start of the conflict with Israel.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was there, alongside other high-profile Iranian military leaders.
The Revolutionary Guards were created after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which saw the overthrow of the Shah of Iran, the country’s last monarch.
First established as a domestic security force, the Revolutionary Guards has now evolved into a powerful transnational force aiding Tehran’s allies in the Middle East and with control over the country’s arsenal of ballistic missiles.
The Israel-Iran conflict began on 13 June, when Israeli airstrikes began targeting nuclear and military sites in Iran. Tensions soared when the United States got involved last week when it bombed three key nuclear sites. A US-brokered ceasefire was then declared on Tuesday.
Iran has always insisted its nuclear programme is for peaceful and civilian purposes only. However Israel views it as a threat and claims its military campaign was necessary to prevent Iran from building an atomic bomb.