Iranian authorities plan to hold the first funeral ceremony for the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US-Israeli attacks, on July 4 and 5.
On Saturday, Iranian state television published information on the timetable for Khamenei's funeral, which includes holding the first funeral ceremony on July 4 and 5 at the Imam Khomeini Prayer Hall in the capital, Tehran.
On July 6, authorities will hold a second funeral in Tehran, followed by another in the central city of Qom on July 7, and in the city of Mashhad on July 9, where authorities plan to bury Khamenei's body in a location inside the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad.
MoU outlines delegations attending Khamenei's funeral
Iran's Supreme Committee overseeing funeral arrangements has not yet announced the final list of leaders and heads of state who will attend the funeral of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as the dates were set only days ago, and in light of widespread regional and international anticipation related to diplomatic de-escalation efforts and the ongoing peace talks between Washington and Tehran. Despite the absence of an official announcement, diplomatic indicators in Tehran reveal preliminary features of the expected size and quality of international representation.
Iranian media sources indicate that the closest delegations will be Tehran's regional allies, along with political and military representatives with direct strategic ties with the Islamic Republic.
The arrival of senior presidential envoys or diplomats from Russia and China is also awaited, in light of the long-standing strategic partnerships between Tehran, Moscow, Beijing, and Pakistan, and their role in the mediation tracks over the past months.
As for the Western attendance, the organizing committee confirms that the ambassadors and diplomatic missions residing in Tehran will participate in the farewell ceremony for international delegations on July 4 at the Imam Khomeini Prayer Hall, while international organizations, including the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, are expected to send representatives of the protocol participation.
The preparation of the guest list intersects with an accelerated political climate, with regional mediators — most notably from Pakistan and Qatar — talking about the imminent conclusion of a comprehensive peace agreement and a memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran to end the state of war in the coming hours. This development, if confirmed, could be directly reflected in the level of diplomatic representation of the countries that will decide to send official delegations to Tehran in early July.
Burial delay more than 120 days
The ceremony was delayed by more than 120 days due to severe security concerns and the military conditions associated with the war, as well as the transitional arrangements that resulted in the inauguration of his son Mojtaba Khamenei as the country's new Supreme Leader.
Khamenei was killed on February 28, 2026, following a US-Israeli airstrike that targeted his headquarters in the capital Tehran during a major military escalation in the region, ending a political and religious career in which he led the country's highest authority for more than three decades (1989-2026), where the Assembly of Experts chose his son Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed him as Supreme Leader.
Khamenei's long reign was marked by absolute hostility to the United States and Israel, and regional expansion by supporting allied factions and militias in the Middle East within the Tehran-led axis, based on his constitutional powers that gave him the final say in all internal and foreign affairs and military policies since the Assembly of Experts selected him in 1989 to succeed the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Khamenei has roots in a religious family in the city of Mashhad (northeastern Iran), where he was born in 1939 and before the 1979 revolution, he was a prominent opponent of the Shah's regime Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and was arrested and exiled several times, and after the victory of the revolution, he assumed senior leadership positions and was elected president of Iran for two consecutive terms between 1981 and 1989, during which he survived an assassination attempt with explosives in June 1981 that left his right hand permanently paralyzed.
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