Five-Day Funeral for Khamenei

Iran began a five-day funeral on Saturday, July 4, 2026, for the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on February 28 at the start of the war. The flag-draped coffin, displayed in a glass case at Tehran's Grand Mosalla, was accompanied by the bodies of family members killed in the same strike, including the wife of the new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.

Crowds of mourners chanted slogans such as 'Death to America' and 'Revenge,' as authorities expect millions to join processions taking the body to Qom, Najaf, and Karbala before burial on Thursday in Mashhad. The funeral, delayed by the war, comes as Iran seeks to leverage its control of the Strait of Hormuz in negotiations with the U.S. for a permanent end to the conflict.

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev paid his respects to Khamenei in Tehran on July 3.