MASHHAD, Iran — Iran on Thursday laid former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to rest at the revered Shrine of Imam Reza in the northeastern city of Mashhad, bringing to a close a week-long state funeral that drew millions of mourners across Iran and Iraq.
Khamenei’s funeral procession reached Mashhad early Thursday after passing through Tehran, Qom, Najaf and Karbala in a series of ceremonies that Iranian officials described as one of the largest state funerals in the country’s modern history.
Thousands of mourners packed the courtyards surrounding the Shrine of Imam Reza, the holiest site in Iran and one of the most sacred places in Shia Islam, as Khamenei’s coffin made its final journey through the city where he was born in 1939.
His flag-draped coffin was transported by truck through streets filled with black-clad mourners waving Iranian flags, portraits of the late leader and red banners bearing revolutionary slogans. As the procession neared the shrine, a helicopter carried the coffin over the final stretch after the dense crowds prevented the vehicle from advancing further. Clerics then gathered around the coffin to offer final prayers before the burial.
The burial marked the final stage of a funeral programme that began in Tehran on July 3 before moving to the holy city of Qom and later to the Iraqi shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala, where millions more mourners joined commemorations. Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces said more than 2.3 million people participated in the Najaf procession alone, although independent verification was not immediately available.
Throughout the ceremonies, mourners chanted slogans against the United States and Israel, with many pledging to continue Khamenei’s legacy following his death in a US-Israeli airstrike on February 28. Iranian state media portrayed the nationwide turnout as a demonstration of unity and resilience amid heightened regional tensions.
Foreign delegations from around 100 countries attended various stages of the funeral, including heads of state, ministers, parliamentary speakers and religious leaders, making it one of Iran’s largest international diplomatic gatherings in recent years. Meanwhile Maldives was Absent.
Khamenei, who led Iran for nearly four decades, was buried at the Shrine of Imam Reza, the resting place of the eighth Imam revered by Shia Muslims and one of the country’s most significant religious sites. The shrine also holds personal significance, as Mashhad was Khamenei’s birthplace and the city where he began his religious studies before later continuing his education in Qom.
