Iran begins Khamenei funeral months after wartime killing

Dubai,UPDATED: Jul 3, 2026 12:04 IST

Months after Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed at the start of the war with the United States and Israel, the country is set to hold a dayslong funeral and burial ceremony beginning on Saturday in Tehran. The mourning period will take his body through cities in Iran and neighbouring Iraq before his burial in Mashhad.

The funeral, delayed while the war continued, is expected to test Iran's theocratic establishment and its ability to bring large crowds onto the streets, particularly six months after a security crackdown on nationwide protests against Khamenei's rule. Authorities are likely to encourage the public, government employees and paramilitary forces to turn out, while the uneasy ceasefire period and an interim deal with the US appear to have given officials the confidence to hold the ceremonies and appear in public.

Khamenei, who led Iran for nearly four decades, was killed on February 28 when the US and Israel jointly launched the war. It remains unclear whether his 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.

Under the schedule announced by authorities, Khamenei's body will be on display at Tehran's Grand Mosalla on Saturday and Sunday. On Monday, it will be taken through the streets of Tehran before being moved to the Shiite seminary city of Qom, about 120 km to the south, where he will be honoured on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the body will be taken to Karbala in Iraq, home to the shrine of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and a long-standing symbol of resistance for the Shiite faithful. The same day also marks the anniversary of the protests against Khamenei's rule, in which thousands were killed by security forces. He will finally be brought to Mashhad for burial.

Authorities say Khamenei will be buried at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Iran's second-largest city. Imam Reza was Shiite Islam's eighth imam, and millions of pilgrims visit the shrine every 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 at the shrine, as was Iran's late President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in 2024.

The scale of the funeral has also raised concerns over crowd safety. When Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the 1979 Islamic Revolution, was buried on June 6, 1989, millions turned out and the situation spiralled out of control. Mourners surged towards the casket, causing the 86-year-old leader's white-wrapped body to tumble into the crowd. Initial reports said at least eight people were killed and about 11,000 were injured. The burial of late Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani in 2020 also saw a stampede that killed at least 56 people and injured more than 2,000.

The funeral comes as the interim deal reached in June has entered a 60-day window for talks on a final agreement to end the Iran war, including issues linked to Iran's nuclear programme and the Strait of Hormuz. Technical talks began in Qatar this week, but have been complicated by deep disagreements and several days of crossfire between the US and Iran over the future of the strait. As Iran prepares for Khamenei's funeral, the ceremonies are set to unfold against a fragile truce, political uncertainty and tight security.

With PTI Inputs

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