Iran prepares multi-day funeral for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Iran is organizing a days-long funeral for the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, expecting millions to attend in Tehran and planning nationwide mourning events.
Tehran is being readied for a multi-day funeral for the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with authorities expecting millions of mourners to gather in the capital starting Saturday. Banners across the city call on citizens to "rise" in support of the Islamic Republic, echoing the large-scale funeral for Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989.
The ceremony will feature Khamenei’s flag-draped coffin at the Grand Mosalla, alongside family members who died in an Israeli airstrike at the war’s outset. Government officials, including Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and President Masoud Pezeshkian, are slated to attend, as are foreign dignitaries.
Volunteer Mohammad Hossein Rezaei said, "As long as these people, who are chosen (by God), are on the field, we will definitely continue the same 'no to humiliation' policy that was founded by the Islamic Republic," and added that Iran will pursue independence and let its people decide their fate.
General Ahmad Vahidi, a senior commander in the Revolutionary Guard who has not appeared publicly for months, was photographed attending a meeting on the funeral and later standing beside the coffin. He told state television, "They must know that the pure blood of our martyred imam will mark another turning point in the victories of beloved Islam across the global arena."
State media showed mourners, identified as relatives of those killed in the 12-day war in 2025 and the recent conflict, throwing scarves at the coffin, a customary practice meant to convey blessings. The coffin was also draped with a red flag bearing the Shiite phrase "Ya Hussein," a symbol associated with martyrdom.
The funeral will include transport of Khamenei’s body to cities in Iran and neighboring Iraq, with streets, airspace and daily activities in Tehran expected to be suspended during the mourning period. A joint military command warned Israel and the United States against any miscalculation in the coming days.