Iran begins state funeral for supreme leader Khamenei, killed in February
Iran began a seven-day state funeral for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday, with his body lying in state at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla as mourners filed past. Khamenei, 86, was killed in a February 28 air strike during the joint US-Israel war on Iran that also killed several family members. The ceremonies, long delayed by the conflict, are set to culminate in burial on July 9 at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad.
More than 100 foreign delegations are attending, including leaders from Pakistan, Iraq, and Tajikistan. Iran pointedly withheld invitations from European governments it accuses of backing the military campaign against it.
The funeral also formalizes a leadership transition that has already taken place: Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, succeeded him as supreme leader weeks after the strike — a hereditary handover unusual in the Islamic Republic’s history. IRGC commander Ahmad Vahidi has vowed to “avenge the blood” of the slain leader, a signal that Tehran intends to keep confrontation with the US and Israel on the table even as it stages a display of continuity and mass mourning.