‘We are one family’: 800 attend mass prayer for Khamenei at Iran ambassador’s residence in Jakarta

Hundreds gathered at the Iranian ambassador's residence in Jakarta for a mass prayer mourning the death of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Read more at straitstimes.com.

JAKARTA – At least 800 people gathered in the afternoon of March 5 at the Iranian ambassador’s residence in Jakarta for a mass prayer to mourn the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

​Many Jakarta residents, dressed in black to express their grief, joined the prayer service and took turns to sign two condolence boards at the official residence of Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Boroujerdi.

Speaking to The Straits Times at the gathering, ​Mr Prasintho Fridholin Sunandito, a 33-year-old civil servant, said: “We pray for Khamenei and support his people’s struggle. We don’t focus on the fact that they are Shi’ite and we are Sunni. That is a small difference. We are one family.”

​The turnout shows that despite theological differences, many in Indonesia’s Sunni-majority population remain tolerant of the Shi’ite minority, viewing them as fellow Muslims united by broader shared struggles.

Mourners laid red and white flowers on a desk under a framed photo of Mr Khamenei.​ At the top of the condolence boards, a sentence read: “We Convey Our Sympathy and Condolences to the Nation and State of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the Martyrdom of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei...”

​The message continued by condemning the attacks by the US and Israel.