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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's Body Lies in State in Tehran Ahead of Multi-Day Funeral
Iran began several days of public mourning on Friday for former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His body is on display at Tehran's Grand Mosalla before burial next Thursday in Mashhad. The ceremonies follow a June ceasefire between Iran and the United States.
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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's body lay in state at Tehran's Grand Mosalla on Friday, more than four months after he was killed in strikes launched by the US and Israel. The coffin, draped in the colours of the Islamic Republic, was carried aloft at the vast religious complex.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian paid respects, along with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and the Afghan Taliban's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.
The events occur under a fragile ceasefire that Iran and the United States agreed in June after signing a preliminary deal to halt their conflict. Khamenei's body will remain at the Grand Mosalla for three days alongside the remains of family members killed in the February strikes, including a son-in-law, eldest daughter, 14-month-old granddaughter Zahra Mohammadi Golpayegani and the wife of his successor Mojtaba Khamenei.
Six days of ceremonies begin at 06:00 local time on Saturday at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Mosalla, where visitors can pay respects until Sunday afternoon.
An official funeral ceremony on Saturday will be led by the Tehran-based Mohammad Rasulullah Corps. Commander Hassan Hassanzadeh said the coffin would be displayed on an elevated platform allowing visitors to enter and leave within 15 to 20 minutes.
Public and private offices in Tehran were ordered to close from Saturday through Monday, while traffic restrictions will shut down most of the city centre to private vehicles.
The airspace over Tehran was partially closed on Friday and will be fully closed on Monday. On Tuesday events move to Qom, where a senior Shia cleric will lead funeral prayers at Jamkaran. Khamenei's body will travel to Najaf in Iraq on Wednesday for a procession at the shrine of Imam Ali, with further ceremonies in Karbala before returning to Iran.
Burial is scheduled for Thursday at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, the city of Khamenei's birth. Commemorative events are planned across Iran for 40 days until the first anniversary of the burial. Khamenei was succeeded by his son Mojtaba, who has not been seen in public since becoming supreme leader.
