Khamenei’s body will remain in Tehran until Monday.Image: www.imago-images.de
July 5, 2026, 8:30 a.mJul 5, 2026, 08:43
In Iran, a senior cleric led the funeral prayer for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the war. On the second day of the public funeral ceremonies, the 97-year-old Grand Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani appeared as a prayer leader, as can be seen on state television recordings.
Khamenei was killed on February 28 by an Israeli airstrike on his official residence in Iran’s capital. The USA and Israel then waged war against Iran for more than five weeks until representatives from Washington and Tehran agreed on a ceasefire in early April.
Meanwhile, the Tehran Metro operating company registered more than seven million trips related to the memorial service since yesterday, the Tasnim news agency reported. It was unclear whether return journeys were also counted. Official participant numbers have not yet been announced.
Burial in hometown
His body will remain in Tehran until Monday. Ceremonies are then planned in the pilgrim city of Qom and neighboring Iraq before Khamenei is to be buried in his hometown of Mashhad on Thursday.
Meanwhile, there was speculation in Iran whether Khamenei’s son and successor, Moschtaba, would make his first public appearance at the mourning ceremonies since his appointment. According to Iranian media, the 56-year-old is not scheduled to lead a prayer. The influential Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi (99) is said to lead the prayer in Qom, and Nuri Hamedani (101) in Mashhad. (sda/dpa)