Prepare for a unique alignment of events!
Iran has scheduled the state funeral for its late Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, to commence on July 4—coinciding with the United States’ 250th anniversary celebrations.
The Supreme Leader was killed on February 28, following airstrikes by the US and Israel on his compound in Tehran, igniting a war with Iran. Due to concerns over potential follow-up attacks, the Islamic Republic delayed Khamenei’s official farewell for over three months.
With a peace agreement anticipated to be finalized shortly, Iranian state media has unveiled the plans for the 86-year-old leader’s final rites.
The capital city, Tehran, will host three days of commemorative ceremonies beginning on July 4 at the prayer hall of Imam Khomeini, the Islamic Republic’s founder, culminating in a funeral procession on July 6.
Then on July 7, another funeral ceremony will be held in the holy city of Qom, south of Tehran.
The proceedings will conclude with a burial in Khamenei’s hometown, the northeastern holy city of Mashhad, on July 9.
Khamenei, who was the leader of the Islamic Republic for 36 years, will be buried at the shrine of Imam Reza, a holy place for Shiite Muslims.
Funerals for his daughter and son-in-law, who were also killed in the deadly Feb. 28 strike, will be held on the same day.
Despite Islamic law requiring the dead be buried within 24 hours ideally, the Islamic Republic is believed to have avoided Khamenei’s funeral for so long for fear of potential airstrikes, nationalist counter-rallies similar to the nationwide uprisings earlier this year, and the regime’s need to explain the absence of his son Mojtaba Khamenei.
The younger Khamenei’s son was severely disfigured in the strikes that killed his father and has not been seen in public since his appointment. It is unclear whether he’ll be attending the ceremonies starting.
The Islamic Republic initially planned a three-day state funeral beginning on March 4, but it never materialized once the country was rocked by large-scale Israeli and US bombing campaigns.
With Post Wires