Iran has announced that its late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, will be buried on July 9 at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, according to state media reports on Saturday.
Funeral ceremonies are set to begin in Tehran on July 4, more than four months after Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli airstrikes on February 28. His death was confirmed by Iranian authorities the following day, March 1.
The burial, earlier slated for March, had been postponed multiple times due to the ongoing conflict before Saturday’s announcement fixing the new date.
The funeral programme will include a memorial ceremony in the holy city of Qom on July 7, before the final burial in Mashhad, Khamenei’s hometown and one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam.
A period of national mourning has been declared alongside the events. Funeral processions are expected to move through Tehran, Qom and Mashhad, with each procession lasting at least 24 hours in accordance with Khamenei’s will.
Tehran authorities say they are preparing for between 15 and 20 million mourners across the various ceremonies, with Mashhad also expected to draw large numbers of visitors from neighbouring countries.
Khamenei led Iran for nearly 37 years, having taken over as Supreme Leader in 1989 following the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, has since succeeded him as Iran’s new Supreme Leader, becoming only the third person to hold the position since the Islamic Republic was established in 1979. Iran’s Assembly of Experts announced the succession following what it described as a “decisive vote,” and called on citizens, particularly scholars and intellectuals, to pledge allegiance to the new leadership.
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