The body of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei lay in state in Tehran on Friday as the Islamic Republic began a week of funeral ceremonies intended to project unity, strength and revolutionary defiance after his killing in a U.S.-Israeli strike.
Clerics, senior officials, foreign dignitaries and mourners gathered at a vast prayer hall built in honour of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, where Khamenei’s coffin was displayed alongside the coffins of family members killed with him.
Khamenei, whose 37-year rule shaped Iran’s political and security system, was killed in February in the first airstrike of the war between Iran and the United States and Israel. His death has become a defining moment for the Islamic Republic, which is seeking to turn the funeral into a mass display of loyalty and resistance.
Iranian authorities are preparing several days of processions across Iran and Iraq, with Khamenei’s body expected to be taken to Qom, Najaf and Kerbala before burial on Thursday in Mashhad, near the shrine of Imam Reza, Iran’s holiest pilgrimage site.
Officials are aiming to mobilise millions of mourners, offering transport, food and accommodation to boost attendance at the main ceremonies. Hotels have reportedly offered discounts, while schools, mosques and sports halls have been prepared to host visitors.
The funeral comes at a critical moment for Iran’s ruling establishment. The clerical leadership, backed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is presenting survival through the war as proof of the state’s resilience against its most powerful enemies.
But beneath the official mourning and appeals for national unity, Iran remains deeply fractured. Years of sanctions have battered the economy, while repeated waves of nationwide protests have exposed widespread anger at clerical rule. The January crackdown, in which thousands of demonstrators were killed, remains a defining scar on the country’s political landscape.
Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has succeeded him as Supreme Leader, has not appeared in any new public image since being wounded in the same strike that killed his father.
Security was tight across Tehran on Friday. Military and police vehicles lined major roads, while police and Basij paramilitary forces patrolled on motorbikes. Iran also warned the United States and Israel against carrying out any attack during the funeral period.
Inside the prayer hall, Khamenei’s coffin was placed on a white stepped dais, flanked by Iranian and black mourning flags. A black clerical turban rested on the coffin, along with a chequered scarf associated in Iran with revolutionary militancy and solidarity with Palestinians.
Foreign officials attending the ceremonies included former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Chinese National People’s Congress deputy head He Wei, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Iraqi President Nizar Amedi.
Relatives of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and senior commander Imad Mughniyeh, both close Lebanese allies of Iran who were killed in Israeli strikes, also attended.
Iran’s president, parliament speaker, foreign minister and other senior officials filed past the coffin to pray and pay their respects. A group of generals stood saluting nearby, including Ahmad Vahidi, the newly appointed head of the Revolutionary Guards, making his first public appearance since his appointment.
For Iran’s theocratic system, Khamenei was more than a head of state. He was portrayed as the guardian of the revolution and the representative of Shi’ite religious authority, a role now being framed through the powerful language of martyrdom.
That symbolism has dominated Iranian streets since his death, with black flags and banners invoking the martyrdom of Imam Hossein, the third Shi’ite imam, whose death in the seventh century remains central to Shi’ite mourning rituals.
In central Tehran, mourners chanted and wept overnight as Basij members led crowds in funeral laments. Posters of Khamenei were distributed, while some supporters called for revenge.
“Only by avenging his blood and ensuring that our leader’s blood is not left unavenged can this sorrow be eased,” said Mobina Razaaghi, an 18-year-old student from Isfahan who attended the funeral events with classmates.
Khamenei was killed alongside his daughter, son-in-law, baby granddaughter and the wife of his son Mojtaba. Their coffins were displayed beside his during the ceremonies.
Although Islamic burial rites are normally carried out quickly, Khamenei’s funeral was delayed because of the war and the risks of holding mass public ceremonies before last month’s interim truce.
After a major Tehran procession planned for Monday, his remains will be taken to Qom on Tuesday for ceremonies in the centre of Iran’s Shi’ite religious establishment. Events are then expected in Najaf and Kerbala in Iraq on Wednesday, drawing figures from Iran’s regional network of Shi’ite allies.
Khamenei is due to be buried on Thursday in Mashhad after a final procession near the shrine of Imam Reza.