In pictures | Iran pays last respects to slain leader Ali Khamenei
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- Ali Khamenei was killed aged 86 on February 28 in U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, ending his rule of Iran since 1989, as a marathon six-day funeral opened July 3 at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla with his coffin draped in the Islamic republic flag
- Iranian authorities mapped a procession route running through Tehran on July 6, the clerical hub of Qom on July 7, Shia holy cities in neighbouring Iraq on July 8, and culminating in burial Thursday July 9 in Khamenei's home city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran
- Representatives from around 30 countries are attending, including China's delegation, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Asim Munir, Afghanistan's Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, and an Indian delegation led by Minister of State Pabitra Margherita and Bihar Governor Syed Ata Hasnain
- Mojtaba Khamenei, named supreme leader a week after his father's killing, was conspicuously absent, yet to appear in public at his own father's funeral
- The coffins of Khamenei and his granddaughter Zahra Mohammadi Golpayegani were displayed together at the Grand Mosalla, with walls covered in large portraits of Khamenei, black mourning flags, and red flags symbolising martyrdom and vengeance
- Strict security surrounds the venue, with Basij paramilitary forces on guard and no vehicles permitted within a kilometre radius; hundreds gathered outside awaiting the July 4 public opening
Why it matters: The six-day, four-city procession crossing into Iraq makes this one of the largest state ceremonies Iran has staged, drawing top civilian and military leaders from Pakistan alongside delegations from roughly 30 nations including China. The conspicuous public absence of newly named Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei — appointed a week after his father's February killing and still unseen — is the ceremony's most visible gap in projecting leadership continuity.
