Khamenei Funeral Begins Friday After US-Israeli Strikes

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- Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed during U.S.-Israeli strikes at the war's outset, will be honored with long-delayed funeral ceremonies beginning Friday, spanning six days across two countries.
- Iran's regime is treating the funeral as a critical moment to demonstrate it has endured, with mass mournings planned across the multi-day, two-country sequence.
Why it matters: The funeral doubles as Tehran's first major legitimacy test since Khamenei's killing — making the scale and order of the mournings a direct read on whether the regime can project stability to its population, rivals, and the wider region.

