Iran has begun final preparations for a six-day state funeral for Ali Khamenei, the former supreme leader killed in a US-Israeli strike on 28 February. The ceremonies, starting on 5 July, will move from the capital Tehran to the holy cities of Qom and Mashhad, and include processions in Najaf and Karbala in Iraq. Authorities expect up to 20 million mourners in Tehran alone, with three days of public holiday, extensive traffic restrictions and a heavy security deployment already causing gridlock in the city centre.

Iranian officials describe the funeral as a moment of national cohesion. Ali-Akbar Pourjamshidian, an organiser, said the aim is to “strengthen national cohesion and unity … around the central role of the Guide.” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, visiting Baghdad, stated the event “will be immortalised by history” and would reinforce bilateral ties. The foreign ministry said representatives from about 30 countries would attend, but a spokesman told state television that Europe was not invited because it “did not stand on the right side of history” during the war. Iraqi authorities confirmed the Najaf and Karbala processions, and the Popular Mobilisation Forces invited media to cover them. Critics, however, accuse the state of using the four-month delay to inflate attendance figures and note that the succession of Khamenei’s son Mojtaba, chosen by the Assembly of Experts in early March, has been accompanied by his complete absence from public view.

The funeral is a large-scale mobilisation under a fragile ceasefire with the United States and Israel, and six months after nationwide protests over living costs and governance. By staging the event across multiple cities and into Iraq, the Iranian leadership projects regional influence and domestic control. The heavy security presence, road closures, and state media campaign—including documentaries and heat advisories—underscore the regime’s effort to choreograph a display of popular support for the new supreme leader, even as the official turnout projections remain unverifiable.

Khamenei’s killing on the first day of the war forced a postponement of the funeral originally planned for March. The ceasefire now permits the regime to hold the ceremonies, which will conclude with burial at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad on 9 July. The Iraqi leg on 8 July will test the depth of cross-border religious coordination. No further political steps have been announced, but the event is being watched for any sign of Mojtaba Khamenei’s public emergence and for the scale of genuine popular participation.