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Published on 4 Jul 2026
Thousands of people have arrived in Tehran, where millions are expected to attend the funeral of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Today’s commemoration has turned the capital into the center of a historic farewell that officials say has drawn more than 10 million mourners from across the country and abroad.
Crowds filled major streets and the main mosque of Imam Khomeini Mosalla on Saturday as mourners, many dressed in black and waving flags, gathered to view the coffin of the 86-year-old leader, who was killed in a US-Israeli strike at the start of the Iran war in February.
The bodies of several members of his family who were killed in the same strike, including his three-year-old granddaughter, are being honored with him.
Government officials have opened more than 5,000 schools and thousands of classrooms across the country to welcome visitors to the capital. The Iranian a great leader he is the most important spiritual figure in the world’s Shia community.
Delegates from more than 100 countries also attended an event reserved for foreign dignitaries on Friday, confirming the regional and international developments in Tehran’s transition.
The funeral program lasts six days, with successive ceremonies in Tehran until Monday before moving to the holy city of Qom, then to Iraq, and finally to the northeastern city of Mashhad for burial.
Experts say that the time – in the first 10 days of the Muslim month of Muharram is connected with the United States’. Independence Day – is full of symbolism, describing Khamenei’s death in a Shia martyrdom and suggesting the continuation of Iran’s regional conflict even after his successor and son, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, assumes full power.
