Iran begins public farewell ceremony for Supreme Leader Khamenei today
Millions are expected to gather over six days, paying their final respects as Iran bids farewell to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
- Funeral began at Imam Khomeini Mosalla in Tehran with thousands attending.
- Khamenei killed in joint US-Israeli strike on February 28; funerals follow multi-city route.
- Ceremonies continue in Tehran through Sunday, then Qom (July 7), Baghdad/Najaf/Karbala (July 8), burial in Mashhad (July 9).
- Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif attended with high-level delegation, offered condolences.
- US President Donald Trump mocked the ceremonies, calling it a “week off.”
- Tehran governor urged mourners to attend only one event to manage crowds.
Iran began the first public funeral ceremony on Saturday for former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Mosalla prayer grounds, where thousands gathered to pay their respects. Mourners packed the wide courtyards and corridors, chanting, praying and laying flowers, while senior Iranian officials and visiting delegations stood in solemn lines beneath the hot July sun.
Khamenei, who had shaped Iranian politics for decades, was killed along with family members in a joint US-Israeli strike on February 28. His death sent shockwaves through the region and ignited weeks of conflict, but the funerals themselves have become a different kind of battleground — a struggle over memory, legitimacy and the direction Iran will take next. The state-organized ceremonies in Tehran will continue through Sunday before moving to Qom on July 7, then to Baghdad, Najaf and Karbala on July 8, and finally concluding with The route underscores both domestic religious symbolism and Iran’s wider influence across Shiite communities in the Middle East.
Older Iranians recounted moments when Khamenei’s words or decrees intersected with their lives — ration lines during sanctions, the rallying speeches after foreign pressure, the complicated pride of a country resisting external forces. Younger mourners, some clutching posters and recording the event on their phones, seemed to search for meaning in a legacy they lived mostly under. The emotional mix—respected elder, polarizing figure, strategic leader—was evident in conversations and the faces in the crowd.
Foreign delegations arrived in numbers, signaling regional alignment and diplomatic posturing. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif posted that he paid respects on behalf of his country, calling Khamenei’s “wisdom, leadership and profound influence” memorable for generations. He traveled with a high-level delegation, including military and political leaders, and stressed that Pakistan stands with Iran “as a brotherly neighbour.” Such visits are part condolence, part reassurance: in public ritual, alliances are reminded and tightened.
Across the Atlantic, the funeral drew mocking remarks from US President Donald Trump, who said the United States had given Iran “a week off” for the ceremonies, claiming American military pressure and calling Tehran “dying to settle.” His comments, delivered at a patriotic event, starkly contrasted with the mournful scenes in Tehran and will likely be woven into Iranian narratives of external hostility.
Back in Tehran, officials worked to manage the enormous crowds. The governor urged people to attend only one ceremony to ease congestion and prevent accidents, while volunteers directed lines and handed out water amid the heat. The funeral’s reach into cities like Qom and Mashhad will deepen its religious resonance, and multiple stops in Iraq — Baghdad, Najaf and Karbala — reflect Khamenei’s symbolic footprint among Shiite populations beyond Iran’s borders.
For families in the crowd, for clerics reciting prayers, and for the diplomats watching, these days are about more than rites. They are a public reckoning — both of loss and of the political and spiritual legacy that will shape the region’s next chapter.