Tehran, March 18 (IANS) People in large numbers attended a funeral ceremony in the Iranian capital Tehran Wednesday for the crew members of a frigate sunk by the United States as well as one the country's top security officials and a high-ranking military commander killed in Israeli attacks.

On March 4, the US Navy's Los Angeles-class submarine USS Charlotte torpedoed and sunk Iran's Dena frigate in the Indian Ocean, killing 104 crew members on board, and leaving another 32 wounded.

Iran confirmed Secretary of Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Larijani and Gholam-Reza Soleimani, Chief Commander of the voluntary Basij force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, were killed Tuesday in Israeli attacks.

Along with Larijani, his son Morteza, Alireza Bayat, Deputy Secretary of the SNSC for security affairs, as well as a number of his bodyguards were killed in the Israeli strike.

On Wednesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian confirmed in a post on social media platform X that Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmaeil Khatib has also been killed.

The ceremony, which was attended by the deceased's family members, Iranian state officials and military commanders as well as a large number of people from different walks of life, began in the iconic Enghelab Square, featuring a procession to a place in southern Tehran where martyrs are taken for a final farewell before their burial.

The mourners waved Iran's flags and held pictures of their "martyrs," including the country's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as they accompanied the bodies. They also pledged allegiance to and support for the country's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and chanted slogans against the United States and Israel, Xinhua news agency reported.

They also vowed to exact revenge on the United States and Israel for their "crimes" and killing of Iranians in their "aggression" against the country.

On February 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, killing the country's supreme leader, high-ranking military commanders and civilians. Iran responded through several waves of missile and drone attacks targetting Israel and US assets and bases in the Middle East.

--IANS

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