Play store
Iran is preparing to bury slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in his hometown of Mashhad on Thursday, where hundreds of thousands of mourners have gathered for the final stage of a week-long funeral that has drawn massive crowds across Iran and Iraq.
The burial comes after days of funeral processions, public rallies and mourning ceremonies following Khamenei’s death in US-Israeli strikes on February 28 that also killed several members of his family.
Despite an announced pause in hostilities, the funeral is taking place amid renewed military exchanges between the United States and Iran, with both sides launching attacks for a second consecutive day.
Footage broadcast by the official IRNA news agency showed Khamenei’s remains arriving at Mashhad International Airport before his coffin was carried slowly through the city’s packed streets toward the Shrine of Imam Reza, Iran’s holiest Shia shrine, where he is scheduled to be buried.
The procession was led by white-turbaned clerics, while black-clad mourners waved Iranian flags, carried portraits of the late leader and chanted revolutionary slogans.
Iranian officials said millions of people had taken part in funeral ceremonies over the past week. Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) said more than 2.3 million mourners joined the procession in Najaf alone, while Khamenei’s remains were also taken through Tehran, the holy city of Qom and Iraq’s Karbala before reaching Mashhad.
State media described the funeral procession in Tehran as the largest public gathering in Iran’s modern history.
Crowds in Mashhad chanted slogans demanding revenge against US President Donald Trump, with some holding placards reading “Kill Trump” as the procession moved toward the shrine.
Khamenei’s successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, has remained out of public view since assuming leadership days after his father’s death. Iranian officials have said he was wounded in the airstrikes that killed his father, though they have not disclosed the extent of his injuries.
Iranian state television said the burial ceremony was scheduled to begin at 2:30 pm local time (1100 GMT) after large crowds in Iraq delayed the funeral procession.
According to Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, head of Khamenei’s office, the late supreme leader had requested to be buried beside the Shrine of Imam Reza, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam. Source: Al Jazeera