Iran Begins Weeklong Funeral for Slain Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Amid Unclear Succession

Iran’s government is preparing a funeral for slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that begins Friday in Tehran and runs for nearly a week. Ceremonies are scheduled in at least five cities across Iran and Iraq and are expected to draw tens of millions of people.

President Masoud Pezeshkian issued a statement Thursday urging Iranians of every ethnicity, religion, preference, and political tendency to attend.

“Your widespread presence will be a decisive response to the logic of terrorism, violence, and bullying, and a clear message to the world that the Iranian nation stands united and in solidarity in defending its independence and dignity,” he said. An official holiday has been declared in Tehran for three days starting Saturday.

City officials have arranged large parking lots outside the capital for travelers to switch to buses, while military barracks and schools will house mourners.

Crews are building platforms and entry and exit routes at the Grand Mosalla prayer hall complex where the body will lie in state. The funeral ceremony and procession through Tehran’s streets are set for Monday. A ceremony will follow in Qom.

On Wednesday the body will be taken to Iraq for events in Karbala and Najaf. On Thursday it will be laid to rest in Mashhad at the shrine of Imam Reza. Iran unveiled the coffin in Tehran on Thursday, July 2.

Khamenei was killed in February at the outset of the US-Israeli war on Iran. His successor, his son Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has not appeared in public since being chosen as supreme leader in March.