A crowd attends the beginning of the dayslong funeral ceremonies on the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026.
Altaf Qadri/AP
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Altaf Qadri/AP
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran started a dayslong funeral Saturday for the late Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, months after an airstrike killed him firstly of the conflict. He was 86.
Authorities unveiled the casket containing Khamenei’s physique in a glass case on the Grand Mosalla in Tehran, Iran’s capital. Mourners wept on the sight, with some chanting: “Our word is one! Revenge! Revenge!”
Some carried banners and flags, whereas billboards throughout town bore Khamenei’s picture. Crowds of males rhythmically beat their chests in mourning, a standard follow at Shiite funerals.
“I am here to say goodbye to my beloved leader Ali Khamenei,” stated a weeping Hananeh Mousavi, 27, who attended the funeral alongside her mom. “I never expected to see such a day. I wish I had died before this tragedy.”
Coffins sat on show at Grand Mosalla
An out of doors stage arrange on the Grand Mosalla resembled the stage the place Khamenei as soon as gave his speeches at a husseiniyah at his compound in downtown Tehran. That web site was destroyed within the Israeli airstrike that killed Khamenei and a few of his household firstly of the Iran conflict on Feb. 28. The caskets of his lifeless relations sat beneath his, which had his black turban atop it, figuring out him as a direct descendent of the Prophet Muhammad.
Iranian spiritual leaders and different mourners pay their respects earlier than the coffins of slain Iranian Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his household throughout a viewing ceremony forward of the dayslong funeral ceremonies on the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 3, 2026.
Vahid Salemi/AP
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Vahid Salemi/AP
Iran’s authorities expects to see hundreds of thousands flood the streets of the capital in scenes paying homage to the burial of the late Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989. Organizers sprayed water on the crowds and supplied chilly drinks to assist these with {the summertime} warmth.
“We attended the funeral to show that we are all committed to defend our country and religion,” stated Ali Kazemi, who got here from the northwestern metropolis of Tabriz, some 530 kilometers (330 miles) away from Tehran.
A big turnout may present a lift for Iran’s authorities, notably because it tries to leverage its maintain on the Strait of Hormuz in negotiations with america over a everlasting finish to the conflict, and as concern nonetheless lingers that Israel may assault but once more.
A person holds an image of slain Iranian Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a crowd waits for his casket to reach on the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque for the beginning of the dayslong funeral ceremonies in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026.
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Altaf Qadri/AP
Funeral begins as U.S. marks its 250th anniversary
Iran selected July 4, the 250th anniversary of the creation of the U.S., to start the funeral. Whereas authorities didn’t acknowledge the timing, crowds on the ceremony in Tehran chanted: “Death to America!” — reprising a cry that is been widespread in Iran for the reason that 1979 Islamic Revolution and U.S. Embassy takeover and hostage disaster.
“We knocked the hell out of Iran,” U.S. President Donald Trump stated in a speech on the similar time in South Dakota in entrance of Mount Rushmore. “They want to settle so badly. We gave them a week off for a funeral.”
The American president was not forgotten in Tehran. Within the crowd in Grand Mosalla, a number of mourners held a big flag that learn: “#KillTrump.”
Khamenei’s physique can be transported to cities in each Iran and neighboring Iraq. Authorities have shut down streets, airspace and every day life in Tehran for the mourning.
It stays unclear whether or not Iran’s new supreme chief, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, will seem at his father’s funeral. The late supreme chief appeared in 1989 at Khomeini’s funeral, weeping visibly, as he started his journey to steer Iran for many years with an iron fist whereas confronting the West. Mojtaba Khamenei’s late spouse was one of many lifeless on show on the Grand Mosalla.
Israel’s repeated threats to kill Mojtaba Khamenei drew a warning from Iran’s joint navy command Thursday, which informed Israel and the U.S. “to avoid any miscalculation” over the approaching days.
