Dubai: Months after the killing of Iran’s supreme leader at the start of its war with the United States and Israel, mourners will hold a dayslong funeral and burial for the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The mourning period will see Khamenei’s body carried through cities in both Iran and neighbouring Iraq. Iran’s theocracy likely will encourage the public, government employees and paramilitary forces to fill the streets in his honour.
Khamenei, who led Iran for nearly four decades, was killed February 28 when the US and Israel jointly launched the war. The funeral was delayed as the war raged.
The funeral will serve as a test for Iran’s battered theocracy and its ability to summon a mass show of support, particularly as the funeral comes six months after security forces’ crackdown on nationwide protests against Khamenei’s rule.
A large turnout also could raise the risk of deadly stampedes. One marred the funeral of Iran’s first supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
An uneasy ceasefire period, capped by an interim deal with the United States, likely gave authorities the confidence to hold the ceremony and have top officials appear. Israel throughout the war killed senior leaders, in at least one case using public appearances to track them.
But it remains unclear whether Khamenei’s son, Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, will make his first public appearance during the ceremonies. The younger Khamenei, believed to have been wounded in the attack that killed his father, remains in hiding.
Here’s what to know about the funeral set to begin Saturday in Iran’s capital, Tehran.
Khamenei’s funeral to last for days
Khamenei’s body will be on display at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla Saturday and Sunday. Monday, it will be paraded through the streets of Tehran before being taken to the Shiite seminary city of Qom, some 120 km to the south. Tuesday will see Khamenei honored there.
On Wednesday, Khamenei’s body will be taken to Karbala, Iraq, home to the shrine of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad who long has been a symbol of resistance for the Shiite faithful. Wednesday also will mark the anniversary of the protests against Khamenei’s rule, which saw thousands killed by security forces.
Khamenei finally will be brought to Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city.
Khamenei will be buried at a holy Shiite shrine
Authorities say Khamenei will be buried in Mashhad at the Imam Reza shrine.
Imam Reza was Shiite Islam’s eighth imam. Millions of pilgrims visit the shrine each year. A hadith, or saying, states that anyone with sorrow or sin will be relieved by visiting there.
Many prominent Shiite clerics have been buried there, as was Iran’s late President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in 2024.
Funeral for Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini saw millions mourn
On June 6, 1989, millions of Iranians turned out in the streets to bury Khomeini, who led the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The situation quickly got out of control. People beat their chests rhythmically in the summer heat, the wails of women cutting through the noise.
Mourners rushed the casket, causing the 86-year-old religious leader’s white-wrapped body to tumble into the crowd. Initial reports said the chaos killed at least eight people and hurt some 11,000 others.
There’s concern that a similar stampede may break out during Khamenei’s funeral, should the crowds be into the millions. The burial of the late Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani saw a stampede that killed at least 56 people and hurt more than 2000 in 2020.
The funeral comes as Iran war interim deal is challenged
The interim deal reached in June created a 60-day window to negotiate terms of a final deal to end the Iran war, including the issues of Iran’s nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz.
Technical talks began in Qatar this week, but they have been complicated by deep disagreements and several days of crossfire between the US and Iran, over the future of the strait.