Overview
- The funeral opened in Tehran on Saturday, July 4, with Khamenei’s coffin displayed at the Grand Mosalla and officials planning processions to Qom, the Iraqi shrines of Najaf and Karbala, and burial in Mashhad on July 9.
- Iranian authorities expect millions to attend and have closed roads, restricted airspace, deployed extra security forces, set up tents and water tankers, and issued broadcast safety guidance to reduce the risk of crowd crushes.
- State media and senior clerics have framed the ceremonies as a symbolic 'referendum' to demonstrate public support after months of protests and war, and hardline officials have urged mass turnout and calls for vengeance.
- Mojtaba Khamenei, who was named supreme leader in March and is reported wounded, has not appeared in public and state outlets say he will not attend the rites for security reasons.
- The events come more than four months after Khamenei was killed on Feb. 28 in U.S. and Israeli strikes that started the regional war, and the funeral could affect the fragile ceasefire and paused U.S.-Iran technical talks by shaping domestic legitimacy and diplomatic signals.