Saturday, July 4th, on the very day of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States of America, I am Funeral services for Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei have begun in Tehran. She passed away in recent months during the conflict with Israel and the United States. The funeral, postponed several times due to the war and instability in the country, will last six days and will culminate with the burial on July 9th. Iranian authorities expect a huge turnout, with millions of people coming from all over the country.
Why do we need six days?
The ceremony's exceptional length has several reasons. The first is logistical: the authorities anticipate mass participation and want to allow the faithful to pay their respects without creating chaos. which characterized the 1989 funeral of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, when the crowd overran the security cordons. There is also a religious and symbolic reason. In the Shiite tradition, collective mourning has a strong spiritual and political valueThe extended time allows for moments of prayer, official commemorations, and the arrival of delegations from Iran and abroad.
How the funeral will take place
Since Saturday, the body has been exposed to Tehran, where citizens, religious authorities, and institutional representatives can pay their respects. Three sons of the late Iranian spiritual leader Mostafa, Masoud and Meisam, attended the farewell ceremony for the first time, to pray in honor of their father. Khamenei's other son and successor was absent. The Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei He has not been seen in public since his appointment, and did not participate in the prayers or the farewell ceremony, which began yesterday.
In the following days they will alternate religious ceremonies, public prayers and commemorative processionsOnly at the end of the sixth day will the body be accompanied towards the burial, scheduled for July 9The entire event will be accompanied by extraordinary security measures, both due to the expected huge influx and the tensions still present in the region after the conflict.
A political message too
The funeral is not just a religious occasion. For the Iranian leadership, it will also be an opportunity to demonstrate unity and institutional continuity following the succession of Mojtaba Khamenei. The authorities have invited the population to participate en masse, transforming the funeral into a demonstration of support for the Islamic Republic's system. It is no coincidence that Indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States have been postponed until after the funeral., confirming the political weight that this long funeral will have both domestically and internationally.
(Last update: 8.51 on 4 July).
