Ashura ceremonies in Iran intertwine faith and support for the state

Since the start of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, last week, black cloths have been draped across many passageways and neighborhoods in Tehran and other Iranian cities as a sign of mourning. Wednesday and Thursday marked Tasua and Ashura, declared public holidays in Iran each year by the authorities to mourn the killing more than 1,300 years ago of Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and the third of 12 Shia Muslim imams.

For the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ashura is also a political affair. The state presents itself as being a continuation of Hussein, the "martyred" leader, who chose to die along with his fighters and family members during an uprising instead of bowing down to what he perceived to be the unjust rule of the Umayyad caliphs. In this vein, slain commanders of the Tehran-backed, predominantly Shia "axis of resistance" – such as Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah – are believed by supporters to have attained the highest levels of honor in death.

Khamenei, who held absolute power for nearly 37 years, is now called "seyyed ol-shohada" or the most exalted of martyrs by state media and some followers, which is the title most associated with Imam Hussein. More than four months after his death at the start of the war with the United States and Israel in downtown Tehran on February 28, Khamenei is slated to be buried the second week of July, during the month of Muharram. After six days of events across multiple cities, Khamenei will be buried in the holy Shia shrine of Imam Reza in northeastern Mashhad.

Ashura events: Mosques, squares and streets across Iran have now been filled with countless black-clad Ashura tents and stations decorated with pro-state messaging, some showing images of officials killed during the war. They play loud religious music and chanting at all hours of the day, especially at night, and sometimes distribute tea and beverages. Tehran's Enghelab (Revolution) Square and other major areas are closed off at night to accommodate large-scale state-organized events.

Ashura mourning processions also move through some neighborhoods carrying "alams" or ceremonial standards associated with Karbala, the Iraqi city where Imam Hussein was killed. Many are operated by state-linked groups and pro-state demonstrators, who have taken to the streets every night since the start of the war. Some are guarded by police and other armed forces.

In some open spaces and mourning gathering places called tekkiyehs, there are rhythmic rituals and chest-beating in unison, along with "zanjir-zani" or self-flagellation of shoulders and back with light chains and other tools. Elegies and lamentations in Persian and Arabic, blasting from loudspeakers, are sometimes mixed with live drums or percussion played among the crowds on the streets, which are illuminated with dark red lights.

Food stations have also been set up in mosques or on the streets, distributing state-backed or grassroots charitable meals to the people.

But not all Ashura ceremonies are linked with the state, with some Iranians marking the occasion based on religious traditions passed down through generations, or to honor loved ones who recently passed away. "My family made some ash-e reshteh on Ashura eve, and we took it to our neighbours' doors as a show of respect and to remember our grandfather, who passed away," a young woman living in western Tehran told Al Jazeera, in reference to a type of Iranian thick soup traditionally made during this time along with several other food items.

This year, a number of Iranian families used their Muharram and Ashura gatherings as a way of commemorating loved ones killed during nationwide protests in January. Footage circulating on social media this week from multiple cities, including Isfahan and Amol, showed mothers and other family members of killed protesters in tears as they held up pictures to remember their loved ones during Muharram ceremonies. Many thousands were killed, mostly on the nights of January 8 and 9 during a total internet and communications shutdown.

For the authorities and their most fervent supporters, this year's mourning events provide another opportunity to rail against foreign powers and their plans for Iran, as the country engages in negotiations with Washington after signing a memorandum of understanding last week to end the four-month US-Israel war on Iran. State media broadcast interviews with supporters on the streets, who said they did not trust the United States.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, who has backed a negotiated resolution with the US and earlier this week said he was concerned about another potential protest wave amid mounting public discontent, used Ashura eve to deliver a message of national unity and wartime resistance. "Any message, statement, or action that damages unity and solidarity benefits the enemy, even if the criticism being expressed is valid," he said, speaking on Wednesday night at the mausoleum of former Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini, who led Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.