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Iran's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei to be buried 9 July
AFP, Tehran
Published: 13 Jun 2026, 11:51 PM
This handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows him waving during a meeting with Iranian people in Tehran on 1 February 2026, ahead of the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Photo: AFP
Iran's former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who ruled the country for nearly 37 years before being killed by Israeli and US airstrikes on 28 February, will be buried on 9 July, state television reported Saturday.
The burial in his hometown, the northeastern holy city of Mashhad, initially scheduled for March but postponed due to the war, will follow three days of funeral ceremonies in capital Tehran beginning 4 July and another in the holy city of Qom on 7 July, it said.
The start date (4 July) of the national funeral will coincide with the United States' Independence Day, which this year celebrates its 250th anniversary.
Ali Khamenei's son, Mojtaba, succeeded him as supreme leader in early March, the third since the establishment of the Islamic republic in 1979.
Mojtaba Khamenei, wounded in the strikes that killed his father and numerous other officials, has not appeared in public since his appointment and communicates only through statements attributed to him.