A gathering in Nuremberg to mourn Khamenei and reject an attack on Iran, amid a heavy security presence.

A large crowd gathered Sunday evening in the Red Square in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen to mourn Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and to condemn the attack targeting Iran, according to the BT newspaper website.

Venstre party leader and prime ministerial candidate Troels Lund on the memorial: “It is beyond my comprehension.”

According to TV2, Troels Lund Poulsen, the Venstre party leader and prime ministerial candidate, strongly criticized the protesters who participated in a memorial service held in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, on Sunday for Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated on Saturday in an attack carried out by the United States and Israel: “How can one live in Denmark, far from dictatorship and oppression, and mourn for that man? This is beyond my understanding,” he wrote on X.

According to him, this shows that Denmark “still has a big problem” with integration: “I think these citizens should look at themselves in the mirror and think about whether Denmark is really the right place for them.”

Scenes of crying and cheering during the ceremony

BT observed that loud crying was mixed with chants in Arabic, while participants raised pictures of Ali Khamenei and Iranian flags in the air. The report explained that the organizers described the event as a Shiite-themed memorial service.

Evening program details

Claes Theilgaard reported that he arrived at the venue shortly before the start of the event, where the organizers welcomed the attendees and reviewed the evening's program, which included minutes of silence, recitation of verses from the Holy Quran, chants in Arabic, and speeches delivered in both Arabic and Danish.

Commemorating the victims and describing the attack

The report noted that participants not only commemorated Ali Khamenei but also remembered Iranian civilians reportedly killed in the US-Israeli attack on Iran on Saturday. The website stated that speakers at the ceremony described the attack as a “terrorist attack” and referred to Khamenei as a “scholar,” according to BT.

Invitations via social media

The website indicated that the organizers promoted the ceremony via social media before it began, where an electronic invitation was circulated specifying the time of the event from 8 pm for approximately two hours.

Pro-Israel and anti-Israel chants

The report explained that the participants chanted slogans glorifying Khamenei, and that anti-Israel slogans were also chanted during the event.

He refused to make any media statements.

Claes Theilgaard reported that none of the organizers agreed to give interviews to explain the reasons for mourning Khamenei or condemning the attack on Iran, and other participants also declined to comment, many of them masked and concealing their faces, according to BT.

Organizing the platform and setting a symbolic image

The website reported that organizers and some participants who delivered speeches or recited Quranic verses and chanted slogans gathered on a raised platform in the square, where loudspeakers were set up and they spoke into a microphone. Pictures of Ali Khamenei were displayed on the platform, and participants lit candles that formed the number “86,” a reference to his age at the time of his death.

The journalist was asked to leave the ceremony without covering it.

The report quoted one of the organizers as saying just before the start of the keynote address: “We ask the media to leave us alone. This is a memorial service where we grieve together.”.

Tension with the journalist and termination of coverage

Claes Theilgaard stated that while he was taking photos and videos, some participants confronted him and protested against his filming. He explained that within a short time, a group of young men, mostly males and masked, gathered around him, pushed him towards a car, and told him that he was not welcome at the venue, which forced him to end his coverage before listening to the keynote address.

Heavy security presence

The website confirmed that police were present in large numbers during the ceremony and remained in the vicinity of the event throughout its duration.