The Iranian regime scheduled a two-day funeral ceremony for its former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on the 4th and 5th of July.
The announcement was accompanied by threats against the United States and Israel and a warning not to launch any attacks on Iran during the funeral.
“We warn the enemies of Iran, especially the U.S. and the Zionist regime, to avoid any miscalculation and to think about the harsh retaliation our armed forces would make to any threat and aggression against our country,” Iranian military commander Ali Abdollahi said Thursday in a statement carried by state media outlets.
Iran’s state Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said the “first stage” of Khamenei’s funeral began on Friday morning when his body, along with “those of his companions,” was moved to the main prayer hall of the Grand Mosalla mosque.
“Representatives from Islamic centers, civic groups, and antiwar and anti-hegemony movements from several European countries, including Italy, the Netherlands, Britain, Denmark, and Austria, have traveled to Tehran to attend or provide media coverage of the ceremony,” IRNA reported.
EuroNews said on Friday that delegations from “around 30 countries” would be in Tehran for the funeral, including some high-ranking officials and heads of state:
According to the list published by Iranian state-run media, Russia is sending former President and Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev as special envoy of President Vladimir Putin. China is sending the vice chair of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.
Afghanistan’s Taliban government will be represented by acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, while Iranian media also report that Prime Minister Hassan Akhund and Ahmad Massoud, leader of the National Resistance Front, may attend.
Iraq’s delegation is headed by President Nizar Amidi and parliamentary speaker Haibet al-Halboosi, alongside Nechirvan Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdistan Region.
Heads of state in attendance will include Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyah, Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili, and Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon. There are also rumors that Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Tairque Rahman will be in Tehran for the funeral.
According to Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei, no European leaders were invited due to their “shameful” support of United States and Israeli military action against Iran. Conversely, Iran sent invitations to the countries that were “standing on the right side of history” – even though some of those countries were wantonly attacked by Iran in March and April.
Khamenei is scheduled to lie in state at the mosque until Monday, when his body will be carried in a funeral procession through Tehran.
“Further rites are scheduled in the holy city of Qom, followed by ceremonies in Baghdad, Karbala, and Najaf in Iraq, before burial in Mashhad on July 9,” IRNA said.
Khamenei will ultimately be buried in his hometown of Mashhad on Wednesday, at the Imam Reza Shrine, where the eighth imam or religious teacher of Shia Islam is interred. The shrine is considered one of the most important sites for Shiite Muslim pilgrims to visit in Iran.
According to Iranian state media reports, various ceremonies and commemorative events will be held for Khamenei for another 40 days after his burial.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote a social media post on Friday “inviting” all Iranians to participate in Khamenei’s funeral.
“As heroic Iran prepares to bid farewell to the sincere servant of Islam and the Revolution, I invite all people, regardless of ethnicity, religion, political taste or orientation, to participate with enthusiasm, dignity and in historic numbers, demonstrating a lasting image of national unity and loyalty to the lofty ideals of the Islamic establishment,” he wrote on X.
The BBC reported that Iranian officials have ordered all public and private offices in Tehran to close from Saturday through Monday, and most of the city’s center will be closed to traffic for the duration. Tehran’s airspace will be “partially closed from Friday and fully closed on Monday.”
Iranian officials also said events honoring Khamenei have been requested by “Iraqi groups,” and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has traveled to Baghdad to coordinate events of “symbolic importance.”
Khamenei was killed by an Israeli airstrike at the beginning of Operation Epic Fury on February 28, along with many of his top officials and advisers and members of his family. His son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei was severely injured in the strike, and has not been seen in public since, although the Iranian military occasionally releases statements that were ostensibly dictated by him. There has been considerable speculation about whether the new supreme leader will appear at his father’s funeral events, and what it would mean if he does not.