Iran holds final burial for slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Mashhad
Iran is holding the final burial ceremony for slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the eastern city of Mashhad, bringing to a close six days of funeral events across the country and in Iraq. Thousands of mourners gathered in the city on Thursday as the burial took place at the Shrine of Imam Reza, one of the most important religious sites in Iran. The ceremony follows Khamenei's killing in a strike in late February, which ended more than three decades of rule.
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The funeral sequence has moved through Tehran, the clerical centre of Qom and locations in Iraq before reaching Mashhad. Local media said the burial was delayed from an earlier morning start after ceremonies in Iraq ran late, with the final prayer and interment scheduled for Thursday evening. Mashhad Governor Hassan Hosseini was quoted on state television as saying he expected 15 million people to attend the funeral, while water sprinklers were used as temperatures reached 35C.
According to the official IRNA news agency, the funeral prayer is to be led by Hossein Noori Hamedani, a 101-year-old ayatollah and conservative figure in the Islamic Republic. The burial is also expected to include Khamenei's infant granddaughter, his son-in-law, his daughter and Mojtaba Khamenei's wife, Zahra Haddad Adel, who were all killed in the same February strikes. Observers have been watching closely for any public appearance by Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not yet appeared in public and is said to have been injured in the strike that killed his father.
The ceremony matters because it marks the formal end of a leadership era that shaped Iran for more than 35 years. Khamenei's death in a US-Israeli war on Iran has left the country managing both a national mourning period and questions about succession. The attention on Mojtaba Khamenei reflects the political sensitivity around who may emerge as the next central figure in the Islamic Republic.
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Mashhad itself carries particular symbolic weight because it is home to the Shrine of Imam Reza, Iran's most revered place of worship. Burial there places the funeral at the centre of the country's religious and political landscape. The scale of the processions, and the inclusion of multiple cities and even Iraq, underline how the authorities have framed the event as a national and regional moment rather than a single-city ceremony.
What remains unclear is whether Mojtaba Khamenei will make any public appearance during or after the burial, and how quickly any succession process may become visible. It is also not clear how many people will ultimately attend the final rites, despite the large estimate cited by Mashhad's governor. The next developments to watch are the completion of the burial at the shrine and any official signals about the leadership transition that follows.
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