People cross the street in front of a large billboard showing portraits of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (left) and assassinated Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (right) in central Tehran on June 8, 2026.
Atta Kenare | Afp | Getty Images
Iran is holding a six-day funeral procession for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader who ruled the Islamic Republic for four decades and was killed on the first day of the U.S.-Israeli war in February.
The ceremony will begin on July 4, almost four months after Khamenei’s assassination, and will end on July 9. The procession will pass through cities in Iran and Iraq before a final burial in Mashhad, Iran’s holiest city.
The funeral, which “will be a tightly choreographed display of mourning, continuity and regime control,” Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, told CNBC, was delayed for several months due to the fighting.
The event is expected to attract tens of millions of mourners and “could reveal tensions beneath the surface”, Vakil added.
The Islamic Republic is expected to adopt unprecedented security measures, overseen by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, while the Basij paramilitary force will coordinate logistics, accommodation and crowd management in different cities.
Khamenei’s final resting place is in the holy city of his hometown of Mashhad, which has deep religious significance for Shiite Islam, and is where his father, the former Ayatollah, is buried.
Itinerary and schedule of Khamenei’s funeralThe funeral was planned as both a national and religious procession, touching some of the most important sites of Shiite Islam in Iran and neighboring Iraq.
“This is essentially a political event presented as a religious event. It’s designed to project legitimacy at home and deterrence abroad,” Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told CNBC.
July 4-5: TehranPublic farewell ceremonies begin at Tehran’s Mosalla prayer complex around 6 a.m. local time, a traditional venue for large state religious gatherings and previous funerals of senior Islamic Republic officials.
July 6: TehranThe main funeral procession will travel around 10 kilometers from Imam Hossein Square to Azadi (Freedom) Square after funeral prayers for the slain Ayatollah and his family.
Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani said participation could reach 20 million people, which could make it the largest gathering in the city’s history.
People wave Iranian flags as they attend the funeral of Alireza Tangsiri, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy, alongside others killed in US-Israeli strikes against Iran, at Enghelab Square in Tehran, April 1, 2026.
AFP | Getty Images
July 7: QomThe procession then heads to Qom, the Iranian spiritual center of Shiite knowledge.
The events will take place between the Fatima Masoumeh sanctuary and the Jamkaran mosque, two of the most important religious sites of Twelver Shiism.
July 8: Najaf and Karbala, IraqThe body will then be transported to Iraq for ceremonies in Najaf and Karbala, home to the shrines of Imam Ali and Imam Hussein, among the holiest sites in Shiite Islam. Iranian officials coordinated preparations with Iraqi authorities for these events.
July 9: MashhadKhamenei will be laid to rest in Mashhad, his birthplace and Iran’s holiest city.
The city is home to the shrine of Imam Reza, the eighth imam of Shiite Islam, and holds deep religious significance for millions of pilgrims. Mashhad is also where Khamenei was born and where his father is buried. Iranian authorities estimate that between 8 and 10 million people could attend the final burial ceremony.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei salutes during a public rally in Mashhad, Iran, March 21, 2023.
Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader | WANA | via Reuters
Who should attend the funeral?More than 30 countries have officially requested participation, Tasnim news agency said this week, citing the IRGC’s Ali Akbar Poorjamshidian.
Pakistan has confirmed its participation and He Wei, a senior Chinese lawmaker, plans to attend, China’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
No Gulf Arab government has publicly announced whether senior officials, foreign ministers or heads of state will attend.
Senior Iraqi officials, including President Nizar Amedi, will attend the funeral, Iran’s Fars news agency said Wednesday.
The new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, would in theory like to be present and visible and mourn the death of his father alongside the nation. He has not been seen in public since his accession following the death of his father. Any appearance would be interpreted as a show of force towards the United States.
“Now come the governance challenges, including deep economic problems, significant social discontent, the specter of renewed hostilities and a relatively new – and yet to be seen – Supreme Leader,” Naysan Rafati, Crisis Group’s senior analyst on Iran, told CNBC.
FILE PHOTO: Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, attends a meeting in Tehran, Iran, July 18, 2016.
Amir Kholoussi | Via Reuters
Security operation The scale of the event required significant planning.
Authorities announced that highways around Tehran would be transformed into temporary parking zones, while schools, mosques, universities and sports halls would be used to accommodate visitors. Flights are expected to be disrupted and access to major cities tightly controlled.
Iran hopes to avoid another major breach in its security as foreign dignitaries descend on the country, such as during the inauguration of Massoud Pezeshkian in July 2024, during which Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in a military guesthouse in Tehran.
