Khamenei burial set in Mashhad after week of funeral processions
Crowds gathered in Mashhad for Ali Khamenei’s burial after ceremonies in Iran and Iraq amid renewed US-Iran attacks.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
Iran prepared to bury Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Mashhad on Thursday after a week of funeral processions that drew large crowds across Iran and Iraq, Al Jazeera reported. The ceremonies have unfolded while Iran remains at war with the United States and Israel, with US and Iranian forces trading attacks for a second day despite a promised pause in US strikes, according to Al Jazeera.
Khamenei, Iran’s former supreme leader, was killed on February 28 in strikes on Tehran by the United States and Israel, Al Jazeera reported, citing the wider US-Israel war on Iran. Several of his relatives were killed in the same attack, according to the report.
His remains arrived Thursday at Mashhad international airport after processions in Iraq’s Shia holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, footage carried by Iran’s official IRNA news agency showed, according to Al Jazeera. The burial was planned for Khamenei’s hometown, near the shrine of Imam Reza.
Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, head of Khamenei’s office, said the late leader had asked to be buried in Mashhad, close to the shrine of Imam Reza, whom Al Jazeera described as a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.
The funeral programme has included ceremonies in Tehran and Qom, as well as events in Iraq, Al Jazeera reported. Khamenei’s remains were carried with those of four family members who died with him, according to the report.
Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces, also known as Hashd al-Shaabi, said more than 2.3 million people joined the Najaf procession on Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported. In Tehran, Tasnim news agency and Press TV reported that millions attended, while Iranian officials described that procession as the largest public gathering in modern Iranian history.
In Mashhad on Thursday morning, mourners carried Iranian flags, images of Khamenei and placards bearing revolutionary slogans, according to Al Jazeera, AFP and Reuters. Some in the crowd chanted threats against US President Donald Trump over his role in the assassination, Al Jazeera reported.
Al Jazeera quoted mourners chanting: “I swear by the blood of the supreme leader, Trump, we will kill you.” The outlet also reported that women in the crowd held placards reading “Kill Trump.”
Iranian state television said the burial ceremony was pushed to 2:30pm local time, or 11:00 GMT, because larger-than-expected crowds had slowed the funeral processions in Iraq, according to Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera correspondent Resul Serdar Atas, reporting from Tehran, said Iranian officials confirmed that overnight US attacks on the Tehran-Mashhad railway line had not delayed the burial. He reported that the railway line had been put out of service.
Mojtaba Khamenei, the current supreme leader and Khamenei’s son, has not appeared publicly since taking power days after his father’s assassination, Al Jazeera reported. Iranian officials have said he was wounded in the strikes that killed his father, but Al Jazeera reported that the extent of his injuries remains unclear.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.