In pictures | Iran pays last respects to slain leader Ali Khamenei

Published 4 July 2026 · india

The people of Iran on Friday (July 3, 2026) gathered to pay their final respects to the country’s slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei at the

The people of Iran on Friday (July 3, 2026) gathered to pay their final respects to the country’s slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei at the start of a week of funeral ceremonies, with officials and international dignitaries converging on Tehran, where his body is lying in state. Khamenei’s coffin had been carried into the complex earlier — draped in a flag of the Islamic republic and with his black turban placed on top. Iranian authorities have planned a marathon six days of funeral ceremonies to commemorate Khamenei, who ruled the Islamic republic as its number one from 1989 until his death aged 86 on the first day of the U.S.-Israeli war on February 28. Representatives from around 30 countries are expected to attend the funeral, with other allies including China and Iran’s neighbours in the Caucasus region saying they would be sending representatives. Indian delegation in Tehran: Bihar Guv. Hasnain and MoS Margherita attend Ali Khamenei’s funeral ceremony But there was no sign — as yet — of Khamenei’s son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei, who was named supreme leader a week after the killing of his father but is yet to appear in public. The coffin will lie in state there until Monday (July 6), when a procession will pass through Tehran.

On Tuesday (July 7), it will move to the clerical hub of Qom, then on Wednesday (July 8) to cities holy to Shia Muslims in neighbouring Iraq, and finally proceed for burial on Thursday (July 9) in Khamenei’s home city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran. As a marathon si day funeral ceremony begins, the coffins of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his granddaughter Zahra Mohammadi Golpayegani are displayed during at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla in Tehran, Iran, on Friday (July 3, 2026). The casket draped in the colours of the Islamic republic. The supreme leader's remains will lie in state day and night until Monday (July 6) within the Grand Mosalla complex, which opened to the public on Saturday (July 4) at 6 a.m. local time. Top Iranian officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf and Head of Judiciary Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, pay their last respects to the slain leader on Friday (July 3). Members of Basij paramilitary forces stand guard outside the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla, on the day international delegates participate in a farewell ceremony for Khamenei, on Friday (July 3, 2026). Women carry a portrait of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as they arrive to pay their respects before the coffins of Khamenei.