Iran prepares to bury its former leader four months after his assassination in US-Israeli strikes

Iranian officials and foreign delegations paid their respects at the coffin of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, four months after his death in US-Israeli strikes that ignited the Middle East war. His body was laid in state at Tehran’s Grand Mosque ahead of a six-day funeral procession.

Authorities expect widespread participation in the official ceremonies, which begin on Saturday. Speaker of the Parliament Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf called for a massive public turnout to avenge Khamenei, who led the Islamic Republic for 36 years until his death on February 28.

The funeral, the largest in the country since the procession for Imam Khomeini in 1989, comes at a critical juncture for Iran’s leadership, which seeks to project an image of resilience and popular support following a series of severe tests in recent months, most notably the wars in June 2025 and February 2026, and the widespread protests earlier this year.

Khamenei’s coffin, draped in the Iranian flag and topped with his black turban, was placed on a platform inside Tehran’s Grand Mosque, also known as the Imam Khomeini Mosque. Coffins of four family members who died alongside him were placed nearby.

Other images showed crowds dressed in black during pre-funeral ceremonies held near the Imam Khomeini Hosseiniyeh in Tehran on Thursday night. The coffin was displayed against a backdrop of red flowers and hanging white butterflies.

Military commanders, including Revolutionary Guard Commander Ahmad Vahidi, who has not appeared in public since the start of the US-Israeli war in February according to Iranian media footage, also paid their respects. Vahidi has led the Guard since the assassination of his predecessor, Mohammad Bagheri, on the first day of the war.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country plays a mediating role in US-Iran negotiations, Afghan Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, and former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who leads the Moscow delegation, also paid their respects.

Khamenei, 86, who served as Iran’s political leader and a religious authority for many Shia Muslims, was killed in an airstrike targeting the complex housing his residence in central Tehran.

There is anticipation regarding whether his son, Mojtaba, will participate in the ceremonies. Since his election as his father’s successor, Mojtaba has limited himself to issuing written statements without appearing in public.

The late Leader’s body and those of his family members will lie in state for three days at Tehran’s Grand Mosque, where banners bearing his image and quotes have been hung. The bodies will then be transported to the city of Qom, south of Tehran, before a visit to the Al-Askari and Al-Husayni shrines in southern Iraq on July 8. They will return to Iran to be buried next to the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad (northeast) on July 9.

Qalibaf had called on Thursday for “all the Iranian people... to write a glorious page in the history of Islamic Iran through your attendance.”

Officials expect the ceremonies to attract between 15 and 20 million mourners, making it the largest official funeral in the country’s history.

Authorities have ordered the closure of public and private offices in Tehran from Saturday to Monday, while traffic restrictions will render much of the city center inaccessible to private vehicles.

Airspace over the capital will be partially closed starting Friday and completely closed on Monday, when rituals involving circumambulation of Khamenei’s coffin are scheduled to take place in the capital.

Representatives from approximately 30 countries are expected to attend the funeral, while people from neighboring Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are also flocking to the capital.