Iran holds funeral ceremonies for slain Supreme Leader Khamenei
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
TEHRAN, July 3 (Saudi Arabia Breaking News) - The body of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei lay in state in Tehran on Friday as clerics, officials, foreign dignitaries and mourners paid their respects after his 37-year rule, Reuters reported.
Iran is holding a week of mass funeral processions for Khamenei, who was killed in February by U.S. and Israeli airstrikes at the start of a four-month war.
Khamenei’s body is expected to be taken to Qom, Najaf and Kerbala, major Shi’ite centres in Iran and Iraq, before burial on Thursday in Mashhad, home to Iran’s holiest pilgrimage shrine.
His coffin was unveiled late on Thursday before a crowd of supporters. On Friday, the coffin, along with those of family members killed with him, was laid in state in the prayer hall built to honour Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, his predecessor.
The funeral comes at a critical moment for Iran, where clerical rulers backed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are seeking to project unity after a war they viewed as an existential confrontation.
Analysts say support for the clerical leadership remains fragile, while Khamenei’s son Mojtaba Khamenei, the new Supreme Leader, has not been seen in any new image since being wounded in the strike that killed his father.
Authorities have mounted a major display of state power and public mobilisation, with Tehran streets tightly controlled and military and police vehicles lining major roads.
Iran has warned the United States and Israel against any attacks during the funeral period.
Representatives from Russia and China were expected to attend, while senior officials from Iraq, Armenia and Pakistan arrived in Tehran for the ceremonies.
Families of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and senior commander Imad Mughniyeh, Lebanese allies of Iran killed in Israeli strikes, also attended the ceremony.
Iranian political leaders, including the president, parliament speaker and foreign minister, attended Friday’s proceedings.
In Iran’s theocratic system, Khamenei was head of state, leader of the revolutionary movement and a central religious authority in Shi’ite Islam.
His death in an enemy attack has been framed through Shi’ite traditions of martyrdom and mourning, with black funeral flags placed across city streets.
Khamenei was killed alongside family members, including his daughter, son-in-law and baby granddaughter, as well as the wife and son of Mojtaba Khamenei.
The burial was delayed because of the risks of holding a large funeral during the war, with ceremonies postponed until after an interim truce deal was agreed last month.
Authorities have prepared schools, mosques and sports halls to house mourners, while bus and rail networks are being redirected to serve the main funeral events.
After a major procession in central Tehran on Monday, the remains are expected to be taken to Qom for ceremonies on Tuesday.
Further ceremonies are planned in Najaf and Kerbala on Wednesday, with prominent attendees from Iran’s regional network of Shi’ite allies.
Khamenei is due to be buried on Thursday in Mashhad near the tomb of Imam Reza.