Iran has begun several days of public mourning and funeral processions for former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, more than four months after he was killed in US and Israeli strikes. His body will lie in state at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla from Friday, ahead of burial next Thursday in his hometown of Mashhad.
Authorities say 12–20 million people are expected to attend what they have described as the “funeral of the century”. Six days of ceremonies begin Saturday in Tehran at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla, led by the Mohammad Rasulullah Corps, with the coffin placed on display under strict crowd-control measures to manage large numbers of mourners.
The body will remain in Tehran for three days, alongside relatives also killed in the strikes in February, while offices in the capital are closed and major traffic and airspace restrictions are imposed. The programme will then move to Qom on Tuesday for prayers at Jamkaran, before continuing to Iraq’s Najaf and Karbala on Wednesday, in what officials say reflects Khamenei’s influence across the Shia Muslim world.
The final burial will take place on Thursday at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, one of Shia Islam’s most important pilgrimage sites. The process comes amid a fragile Iran–US ceasefire following a preliminary deal in June, with international figures expected to attend and questions remaining over key participants in the ceremonies. (Newswire)