Iran will hold a six-day state funeral for former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei beginning 4 July, with processions in Tehran and Qom before burial in Mashhad on 9 July, according to Iranian officials cited by state-linked media. The ceremonies mark the first mass public gathering since Khamenei was killed in a joint US-Israeli airstrike on 28 February, and they place intense scrutiny on his son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not appeared in public, on video, or in any audio recording since assuming the role. Iranian state media report that the 56-year-old suffered severe facial disfigurement and leg wounds in the same strike, and all statements attributed to him have been read by news anchors. Officials insist he remains mentally sharp and participates in decisions via audio link, yet his continued invisibility has prompted speculation over his health and the stability of the transition, with senior US officials, including Marco Rubio, claiming he is in a coma — an assertion Tehran has not officially confirmed.

India will be represented by Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita and Bihar Governor Syed Ata Hasnain, government sources told Indian outlets, after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi. New Delhi has not confirmed whether Modi will attend, and the decision to send a junior minister and a governor rather than the premier reflects, according to Indian analysts, a calibrated balancing act: India maintained public neutrality during the US-Israeli strikes and did not condemn Khamenei’s killing, drawing sharp criticism from the opposition Congress party. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari are expected to lead their country’s delegation, while Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein confirmed coordination with Iran for ceremonies at Shia holy sites in Najaf and Karbala.

From exile, Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi has called for a “Global Week of Action for a Free Iran” to coincide with the funeral, urging gatherings outside US embassies and covert acts of dissent inside Iran. Pahlavi, who describes the regime’s crackdown on earlier protests as a massacre, framed the funeral as an opportunity to “show the world the true face of Iran” and pressed Washington not to deal with “terrorists.” The appeal follows the recent execution of two protesters and comes as the Islamic Republic seeks to project continuity: in statements read on state television, Mojtaba Khamenei has vowed to pursue legal cases against the US and Israel for war crimes, citing the killing of children in Minab and Lamerd and attacks on medical facilities, and has instructed the judiciary to restore the nation’s violated rights.

The funeral, delayed for months by the war, proceeds under a fragile ceasefire formalised through separate digital memoranda of understanding signed by Pezeshkian and US President Donald Trump. Long-term talks continue in Switzerland, though the truce was tested last week when US Central Command struck Iranian sites after a drone attack on a commercial vessel near the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran retaliated against bases in Bahrain and Kuwait. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking in Baghdad, said the strait remains under Iranian control and that normalcy will return once obstacles are removed. The burial on 9 July at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad is expected to draw up to 20 million mourners, according to municipal officials in Tehran, potentially surpassing the 10 million reported at Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s funeral in 1989, and will serve as a barometer of public sentiment and regime cohesion in the post-Khamenei era.