Arabic version: إيران تحيي ذكرى القائد الأعلى السابق من خلال فعاليات حداد واسعة
Iran has begun several days of public mourning and funeral processions for its former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in strikes launched by the US and Israel in February. The mourning period begins with Khamenei’s body lying in state at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla from Friday, with burial planned for next Thursday in his hometown of Mashhad. According to BBC News, Iranian authorities anticipate attendance of 12 to 20 million people at what they are calling the “funeral of the century.”
The ceremonies will commence at 06:00 on Saturday at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla, allowing visitors to pay their respects until Sunday afternoon. An official funeral ceremony will take place on Saturday, led by the Tehran-based Mohammad Rasulullah Corps. Khamenei’s coffin will be displayed on an elevated platform, facilitating crowd flow to ensure a timely visit.
For three days, Khamenei’s body will lie in the Grand Mosalla alongside family members who were also killed in the strikes. To accommodate the events, public and private offices in Tehran will close from Saturday through Monday, and traffic restrictions will be enforced in the city center. Airspace over Tehran will be partially closed starting Friday and fully closed on Monday.
On Tuesday, the ceremonies will move to Qom, where a senior Shia cleric will lead funeral prayers at Jamkaran, a significant religious site. Following this, Khamenei’s body will travel to Najaf in Iraq for a procession at the shrine of Imam Ali, with further ceremonies planned in Karbala before returning to Iran. Iranian officials state that these arrangements reflect Khamenei’s influence across the Shia Muslim world.
Khamenei is set to be buried in Mashhad at the Imam Reza Shrine, a key pilgrimage site. Representatives from multiple countries, including Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, are expected to attend. Commemorative events will continue across Iran for 40 days, leading up to the first anniversary of Khamenei’s burial. Questions remain regarding the attendance of his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen publicly since succeeding his father as supreme leader.
