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The body of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will lie in state at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla from Friday alongside the remains of family members killed alongside him, the BBC reported. A New York Times assessment found the long-delayed ceremonies offer the Iranian regime a critical opportunity to demonstrate endurance after the conflict. An official funeral is scheduled for Saturday in the capital before the remains proceed to Najaf and Karbala in Iraq and eventual interment in his hometown of Mashhad. Authorities have ordered offices closed through Monday with traffic and airspace restrictions in place across the city centre.
Reuters indicated the events could draw as many as 20 million mourners. That projected attendance would exceed the roughly 10 million who turned out for the 1989 funeral of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, which Guinness World Records recognised as the largest such gathering by proportion of national population. Euronews characterised the Khamenei ceremonies as potentially the largest state funeral in the history of the Islamic Republic, building directly on that earlier precedent. The current arrangements follow an initial declaration of 40 days of national mourning made immediately after his death.
Khamenei was killed on 28 February 2026 in the opening phase of US-Israeli strikes on Tehran, multiple outlets including NPR and Reuters confirmed. The strikes also claimed the lives of his daughter, granddaughter, son-in-law and daughter-in-law, according to Iranian state media accounts compiled by Wikipedia. Some residents celebrated in the streets while others gathered to mourn and demand retaliation, Reuters documented at the time, revealing deep divisions within Iranian society. The government simultaneously announced a seven-day public holiday to mark the loss.
Mojtaba Khamenei succeeded his father as supreme leader in early March after senior clerics selected him despite reservations about exposing him to further risk, the New York Times reported. Al Jazeera described the 56-year-old as likely to uphold his father’s hardline policies across domestic and foreign affairs. The new leader has not appeared in public since assuming the position, BBC coverage noted, leaving questions about his governing style unanswered for now.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif heads the list of foreign representatives expected to attend the Tehran events, the BBC stated. The multi-city itinerary spanning Iran and Iraq forms part of a carefully orchestrated journey intended to allow widespread participation. Preparations come after a fragile ceasefire took hold in June following a preliminary agreement between Iran and the United States that ended active hostilities.
