Iran’s former Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, who ruled the country for nearly 37 years before being killed in Israeli and US airstrikes on February 28, will be buried on July 9, according to state television.
The burial will take place in his hometown of Mashhad, the holy city in northeastern Iran. It was initially scheduled for March but was postponed due to the war.
State television said the funeral rites will begin with three days of ceremonies in the capital, Tehran, from July 4 to July 6, followed by another ceremony in the holy city of Qom on July 7, before the final burial in Mashhad on July 9.
The start of the national funeral on July 4 coincides with the United States’ Independence Day, which this year marks the country’s 250th anniversary.
Ali Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, succeeded him as supreme leader in early March, becoming the third person to hold the position since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979.
Mojtaba Khamenei, who was reportedly wounded in the strikes that killed his father and several other senior officials, has not appeared in public since assuming office and has communicated only through statements attributed to him.
