Tens of thousands of Iranians were already at Tehran University on Tuesday morning to attend the funeral service for former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani led by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

State television showed people pouring onto the streets around the university where Ayatollah Khamenei will begin the service, paying tribute to Rafsanjani despite their "differences".

The heavyweight politician, who passed away on Sunday at 82, will be buried inside the tomb of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic revolution.