Iran opened a multi-day state funeral on July 3-4, 2026 for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at age 86 in a joint US-Israeli airstrike on February 28 that also killed several family members. Ceremonies began at Tehran's Grand Mosalla, with hundreds of thousands of mourners moving through the streets chanting for revenge against Israel and the United States.
The funeral, delayed roughly four months by the war, runs through July 10: a procession through Tehran on July 6 precedes final burial at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Khamenei's birthplace. Tehran's mayor said turnout could reach 20 million people across the multi-city events, potentially the largest gathering in the city's history. Khamenei's son, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has been named his successor.
The dayslong rites unfold against a fragile ceasefire, with control of the Strait of Hormuz still a central point of negotiation between Iran and the US, and Israel continuing strikes on Lebanon in parallel. The timing also coincided with the United States marking its 250th anniversary of independence.