Khamenei funeral procession begins July 4
People walk past a large billboard showing portraits of Iran’s late religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (left) and slain religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (right) in central Tehran on June 8, 2026.
Atta Kenare | Afp | Getty Images
Iran is holding a six-day funeral for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ruled the Islamic Republic for 40 years and was killed on the first day of the US-Israeli war in February.
The ceremony will start on: July 4, nearly four months after Khamenei was killed, and will end on July 9. The parade will cover cities in Iran and Iraq before the final burial in Iran’s holiest city, Mashhad.
The funeral, which “will be a tightly choreographed display of mourning, continuity and regime control,” was postponed several months due to the conflict, Sanam Vakil, director of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Program, told CNBC.
Vakil added that the event is expected to draw tens of millions of mourners and could “reveal tensions beneath the surface.”
The Islamic Republic is expected to implement unprecedented security measures overseen by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, while the Basij paramilitary force will also coordinate logistics, accommodation and crowd management in various cities.
Khamenei’s final resting place is the holy city in his hometown of Mashhad, which has deep religious significance for Shiite Islam and where his father, the previous ayatollah, is buried.
Khamenei’s funeral route and program
The funeral was designed as both a national and religious ceremony, touching on some of the most important sites of Shiite Islam in Iran and neighboring Iraq.
“This is basically a political event disguised as a religious event. It is designed to provide legitimacy at home and deterrence abroad,” Middle East Institute senior researcher Alex Vatanka told CNBC.
4-5 July: Tehran
Public farewell ceremonies begin around 6 a.m. local time at Tehran’s Mosalla place of worship, the traditional venue for major state religious gatherings and previous funerals of the Islamic Republic’s top figures.
July 6: Tehran
The main funeral procession will travel approximately 10 kilometers from Imam Hussein Square to Azadi (Freedom) Square after the funeral prayer for the martyr Ayatollah and his family.
Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani said attendance could reach 20 million people, potentially making it the largest gathering in the city’s history.
People wave Iranian flags as they attend the funeral of Iranian Revolutionary Guard navy commander Alireza Tangsiri and others killed in US-Israeli attacks on Iran at Enghelab Square in Tehran on April 1, 2026.
AFP | Getty Images
July 7: Sand
The procession then moves towards Qom, Iran’s spiritual center of Shiite learning.
Events will be held between the Tomb of Fatima Masoumeh, one of the most important religious sites of Twelver Shiism, and the Jamkaran Mosque.
July 8: Najaf and Karbala, Iraq
The body will then be transported to Iraq for ceremonies in Najaf and Karbala, where the mausoleums of Imam Ali and Imam Hussein are among the holiest sites in Shiite Islam. Iranian officials coordinated preparations for the events with Iraqi officials.
9 July: Mashhad
Khamenei will be buried in Mashhad, his hometown and the holiest city in Iran.
The city is home to the mausoleum of Imam Reza, the eighth imam of Shiite Islam, and has deep religious significance for millions of pilgrims. Mashhad is also where Khamenei was born and his father is buried. Iranian officials estimate that 8 to 10 million people may attend the final funeral.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a public rally in Mashhad, Iran, on March 21, 2023.
Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran | WANA | via Reuters
Who is expected to attend the funeral?
More than 30 countries have officially requested participation, Tasnim News Agency reported this week, quoting Ali Akbar Poorjamshidian of the Revolutionary Guard.
China’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that it had confirmed Pakistan’s participation and that senior Chinese lawmaker He Wei also plans to attend.
No Gulf Arab government has publicly announced whether senior officials, foreign ministers or heads of state will attend.
Iran’s Fars News Agency said on Wednesday that senior Iraqi officials, including President Nizar Amedi, would attend the funeral.
New Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei will theoretically want to be there, be visible, and mourn his father’s death with the nation. He has not been seen in public since taking office following the death of his father. Any appearance would be read as a show of force to the United States.
“Now come the challenges of governance, including deep economic problems, significant social discontent, the specter of renewed hostilities, and a relatively untested and yet unseen new Supreme Leader,” Naysan Rafati, Crisis Group’s senior Iran analyst, told CNBC.
FILE PHOTO: Iran’s new religious leader, Mujtaba Khamenei, the second son of the late Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, attends a meeting in Tehran, Iran, on July 18, 2016.
Emir Kholousi | via Reuters
security operation
The scale of the event required significant planning.
Officials said that highways around Tehran will be turned into temporary parking areas, and schools, mosques, universities and gyms will be used to accommodate visitors. Flights are expected to be disrupted and access to major cities will be tightly controlled.
Iran will hope to avoid another major security breach as foreign dignitaries flock to the country, such as the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in a military-run guesthouse in Tehran during Massoud Pezeshkian’s inauguration in July 2024.
