The state funeral of Ali Khamenei, the second supreme leader of Iran, took place from 3 to 9 July 2026, following his assassination in a US-Israeli attack on 28 February 2026. Several ceremonies were held in Tehran and Qom, alongside separate events in Iraq (Najaf and Karbala), before his burial at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad.
Major processions began on 3 July, with large rallies and foreign participants arriving. Hundreds of thousands of followers attended the first day of the funeral, and the Iranian government facilitated the event. The funeral procession in Tehran was attended by millions coming from all over Iran. The absence of Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's new supreme leader and Ali Khamenei's son, from the funeral received global coverage, raising questions about his health and as to who is leading the country.
The funeral was originally scheduled to take place from 4 to 6 March but was postponed due to the 2026 Iran war.
Crowds carried banners of the slogan of the funeral, "We must rise" (Persian: باید برخاست, romanized: Bâyad barxâst), alongside a red clenched fist, symbolizing Iran's resistance against the United States and Israel. Mourners called for revenge, carrying banners threatening violence against Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, and chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Israel".
Background
Khamenei was killed by a joint US-Israeli airstrike at the onset of the Iran war on 28 February 2026 at 08:10 (IRST), at the Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran in Tehran. The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) confirmed his death at around 05:00 (IRST) the following day. Members of Khamenei's immediate family, including his daughter, son‑in‑law, daughter‑in‑law, and grandchild, were also killed in the strikes.
Prelude
The government announced a 40-day mourning period and a week-long public holiday. The public was expected to observe the body of Khamenei at the Imam Khomeini Prayer Hall at the Grand Mosalla of Tehran. It was reported in March that Khamenei would be buried in Mashhad, the city where he was born. The funeral was originally scheduled to take place from 4 to 6 March but was postponed due to the war. On 18 April, the Astan Quds Razavi foundation said that the burial location had not yet been decided.
On 9 April, the fortieth-day anniversary of Khamenei's death was marked with processions and ceremonies in Iran.
On 2 June, Iranian officials and state media announced that the funeral would take place over three days and would involve public ceremonies in several Iranian cities, including a 24-hour ceremony in Tehran. The funeral would be held on 4 July, corresponding to the 19th and 20th of Muharram and ending on 9 July, corresponding to the 24th of Muharram and the eve of the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Ali al-Sajjad, in Mashhad. Then, Khamenei and his family would be buried at the shrine of Imam Ali al-Rida according to Tasnim News.
According to statements from Iran's official commemorative committee and ISNA, the funeral and burial ceremonies for Khamenei were scheduled to include four members of his family been killed in the same attack: Mesbah al-Hoda Bagheri-Kani (son-in-law), Boshra Hosseini Khamenei (daughter), Zahra Haddad Adel (daughter-in-law), and Zahra Mohammad Golpayegani (granddaughter).
In the days following Khamenei's death, claims circulated on social media alleging that his body had been temporarily buried at the Shrine of Fatima Masumeh in Qom, before being transferred to Tehran for the funeral ceremonies. Officials at the shrine denied the claim. On 30 June, Iman Attarzadeh, spokesperson for the funeral committee, said that Khamenei's body and the bodies of his family members had been kept under protection in accordance with religious and legal requirements and that they had neither been buried nor placed in safekeeping.
The Iranian government arranged 50 million loaves of bread to be provided for the funeral. The governorate of Tehran province announced that the city of Tehran is preparing 5,000 mosques and 700 schools for pilgrims. Free fiber-optic internet access points were laid in 10 locations to accommodate users. Grocery supermarket stores were ordered to work 24 hours a day to accommodate pilgrims. The official motto and logo of the funeral was "Must rise". The SAIPA company prepared facilities to accommodate 2,000 Iraqi pilgrims. One thousand tents were pitched inside Mellat Park for visitors and mourners by the Red Crescent.
Tehran hotels offered 50% discounts during the funerals, and more than one thousand free cab vans in Tehran were tasked for the events.
Businesses, gyms, and the Tehran Grand Bazaar were reportedly closed for parts of this period. The authorities closed streets, airspace, and daily life in Tehran and Iran during the mourning events. U.S.-Iran negotiations over ending the war were paused for the funeral, though both sides separately said that some progress had been made.
Timeline
The national shutdown on 5 and 6 July 2026 was announced the previous day on state television.
According to reports from Iranian state media, farewell ceremonies were held in Tehran on 3, 4, and 5 July, followed by processions in both Tehran and Qom on 6 and 7 July, and a transfer of the body to Iraq on 8 July, before returning to Iran for final rites and burial in Mashhad at the shrine of the eighth Shia imam on 9 July. The Financial Times reported that the Iranian government prepared for between 12 and 15 million domestic participants over the six days of mourning. The events, originally scheduled for March, were postponed due to the war between Iran, the US and Israel. The significant delay between his death and the announcement of these dates fuelled widespread speculation, though it was believed that extensive security concerns and the potential for attacks played a major role in the timing. Authorities also faced the immense logistical challenge of managing such a large‑scale event safely, particularly in light of past tragedies such as the 2020 funeral of Qasem Soleimani, which resulted in a fatal crowd crush.
Building the perimeter walls around sites cost at least 60 billion toman. Some BRT bus lane stations' routes had to be destroyed. Around 2,000 people registered to volunteer to set up guest houses.
On July 9, two IRGC agents were killed at an IRGC checkpoint in Mashhad in a shooting incident, according to state media sites. Train services were suspended and travels were canceled after the Tehran-Mashhad railroad was destroyed in an airstrike after U.S. President Donald Trump ended a truce over IRGC missiles launches on three Arab countries and the Hormuz Strait attacks.
In June, in Revaq Keshvardoost, where the body was reportedly kept, Iranian hardliners staged a three-day sit-in protest against the Islamabad Memorandum with the US to end the war between the two countries and Israel. The mausoleum was subsequently shut down. Ali Abdollahi, commander of Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, warned the US not to carry out attacks during the funeral processions.
Funeral proceedings
Funeral in Iran
Khamenei's public funeral began on the morning of July 4 in Tehran at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla, where thousands of mourners had gathered since early morning before the official ceremony was announced. Iranian state television announced that the official funeral would begin at around 6:00 a.m. local time. A large crowd gathered at the complex, while security measures were tightened and traffic restrictions were imposed throughout the capital. Senior Iranian and foreign officials attended the opening ceremony, with Qatari outlet Al Jazeera reporting that representatives of more than 50 foreign delegations were present and paid their respects. The dates of the funeral were allegedly chosen to coincide with the 250th American Independence Day.
Verses of the Quran were recited during the ceremony for different foreign delegations, with the passages varying for each group. Some Iranian media outlets described this practice as a deliberate selection rather than a routine recitation, suggesting that the verses carried political or diplomatic messages. Different passages were reportedly recited for various delegations, including a verse linked to the Battle of Badr for the Saudi delegation, a verse about the superiority of those who fight in God's cause for Turkey, different verses with distinct messages for Lebanon and Hezbollah, and a verse about loyalty to God's covenant for the Hamas delegation. Quranic verses read to dignitaries included verses from Al Imran; for the Qatari envoys, Al-Fath was read, meaning "God has forgiven you" which was used when Islamic prophet Muhammad made peace with the Quraysh tribe.
Mourners at the ceremony chanted slogans including "Death to America", "Death to Israel", and "Our word is one! Revenge! Revenge!" Banners displayed across Tehran during the funeral featured the slogan "We must rise" in Arabic, English, and Persian, alongside imagery of a clenched fist.
At the funeral, which saw posters and graffiti calling for the death of Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a poet demanded Trump's death in front of hundreds of thousands of Khamanei's followers who attended, even as Iran and the US negotiated a permanent end to the war between the two countries and Israel. The demand prompted cheers from the audience, as did his statement that "the world is no longer a good place for Trump."
In a report published on 4 July 2026, a spokesperson for the funeral committee announced that the farewell ceremony at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla in Tehran would continue until dawn. He added that the funeral prayer was scheduled for 8 a.m. the following day and was expected to be attended by a large number of participants.
ABC News reported that a large crowd kept gathering at Tehran's Grand Mosalla religious complex despite the intense summer heat and road closures across the capital. Thousands of mourners wrote messages of grief on a black concrete wall separating the crowd from the platform where the coffins of Khamenei and family members killed alongside him were placed, covered with Iranian flags. The outlet noted that large numbers had gathered in Tehran, with the coffins remaining at the mosque until Sunday ahead of a planned 11-kilometre procession to Azadi Square on July 6, 2026. ABC also reported that some people travelled at least 750 km (470 mi) to attend the ceremony, while volunteers handed out food and water to help people cope with the heat. Mourners were seen crying in front of the coffins, and some called for revenge against the US and Israel.
The multi-day funeral entered its second day on Sunday, marked by huge crowds and chants calling for revenge following Khamenei's killing. It was reported that compared to the previous day, an even larger crowd gathered, with mourners dressed in black carrying banners and flags calling for revenge. The Iranian government provided transportation, food, and lodging.
On July 6, 2026, the third day of the funeral proceedings, the coffins of Ali Khamenei and members of his family were carried through Tehran as large crowds lined the streets and followed the route toward central areas, including Azadi Square. Reuters reported that during the procession, some mourners threw stones at a billboard showing Donald Trump. Along the route, banners and placards carried messages calling for vengeance against U.S. and Israeli officials, with some directly referencing Trump. Flags of the United States and Israel were reportedly burned at certain points. The Jerusalem Post also reported that mourners waved red flags, described as symbols of revenge.
The head of the funeral committee for the Leader of the Revolution and his family, expressing appreciation for the widespread public presence and cooperation, stated that efforts to transfer the body of the Leader of the Revolution to the city of Qom before the evening call to prayer are underway.
According to Mirtaj al-Dini, the Iranian head of "the Committee to Commemorate the Martyr Leader of the Revolution", the funeral arrangements for Khamenei's included steps such as: the Lailat al-Dafan prayer; holding public mourning, and mourning ceremonies in mosques and religious places, gatherings; public mourning at night, holding mourning ceremonies during Friday prayers across more than 900 cities in Iran.