Iran will bury Khamenei in hometown as US strikes increase

On Thursday, Iranians were making arrangements to inter their deceased leader, Ali Khamenei, in his native city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran, as recent US airstrikes posed a risk of exacerbating the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The burial of the deceased supreme leader follows a multi-day funeral service that drew millions of mourners from numerous places in both Iran and Iraq.

As the burial rites approached their conclusion, the United States initiated more strikes on Iran in response to assaults on maritime vessels in the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

President Donald Trump warned of “much worse” consequences if Iran continued to attack warships in the channel, having already declared that the US ceasefire with Iran was concluded.

Khamenei was assassinated on February 28, coinciding with the initiation of US-Israeli strikes that commenced the conflict.

After a lengthy procession through the sacred cities of Najaf and Karbala in adjacent Iraq on Wednesday, he was to arrive at his ultimate resting place in the holy city of Mashhad.

Observers are looking for signs of Mojtaba Khamenei, Khamenei’s son and heir, who has not been seen in public and is said to have been injured in the same attack that killed his father.

Mashhad governor Hassan Hosseini stated on state media that he anticipates “15 million people” to attend Khamenei’s funeral.

The funeral was initially scheduled for Thursday at 6:00 am (0230 GMT); however, local media later reported that planners indicated it would commence at 2:00 pm due to delays in rituals in Iraq.

The official IRNA news agency reports that Khamenei will be interred on Thursday evening at the Shrine of Imam Reza, Iran’s most venerated site of prayer. Imam Reza is the sole one of the twelve Shia imams interred in Iran.

The funeral services for Khamenei encompassed various sites that symbolize the religious, political, and ideological foundations of the Islamic Republic.

Mohammad Mohammadi-Golpaygani, his chief of staff, had earlier stated on state television that Khamenei expressed a desire to be interred in Mashhad.

Numerous prominent individuals have been interred in the shrine over the ages, including various past Iranian shahs and former president Ebrahim Raisi.

Substantial throngs

The ceremony has thus far attracted large crowds in multiple locales, commencing with Khamenei’s three-day lying in state in the capital, Tehran.

The Islamic Republic anticipates that the ceremony will convey strength and solidarity in the aftermath of the Middle East conflict and six months after the suppression of anti-government demonstrations.

Khamenei, who had governed Iran since 1989, was assassinated at the age of 86, along with other family members and senior officials, in an Israeli strike.

Following five weeks of heavy warfare, a tenuous ceasefire and a preliminary agreement with the US aimed to suspend the Middle East conflict.

The ceasefire appeared increasingly jeopardized when US Central Command reported conducting strikes to diminish the capacity of Iranian forces “to threaten freedom of navigation” in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical point of contention in US-Iran negotiations.

Demands for moderation proliferated after US forces targeted several locations along Iran’s coastline in retaliation for Iranian assaults on three vessels in the maritime corridor.

Tehran previously announced that it had targeted US installations in Bahrain and Kuwait.

After ceremonies in Tehran, Khamenei’s remains were conveyed on Tuesday to the clerical capital of Qom, then on Wednesday to adjacent Iraq, culminating in his burial on Thursday.

He will be interred beside his infant granddaughter, son-in-law, daughter, and Zahra Haddad Adel, the wife of Mojtaba Khamenei, all of whom perished in the strikes on February 28.