THE NEW YORK TIMES: Long-delayed funeral ceremonies for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed during U.S.-Israeli strikes at the war’s outset, are set to begin Friday. For the regime, it is a critical moment to demonstrate that it has endured.
There are few analogues in history for the size, scale and import of the funeral that Iran’s government is preparing to hold for its slain supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Starting Friday in the capital, Tehran, and running for nearly a week, with ceremonies planned in at least five cities across Iran and Iraq, the funeral is expected to draw tens of millions of people, government officials have said.
Perhaps more striking than the funeral’s complexity and scope is its symbolism at this moment. It comes more than four months after Ayatollah Khamenei was killed in February at the outset of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, and six months after Iran was gripped by nationwide protests calling for an end to his government.
While millions of mourners are expected to turn out next week, many Iranians remain deeply dissatisfied with what Ayatollah Khamenei’s reign brought to their country over nearly four decades of authoritarian rule. He oversaw brutal repression, including the imprisonment, torture and killing of dissidents, and presided over widening corruption and the increasing control of much of Iran’s wealth by its security forces.
When it became clear that he had been killed, some in Iran celebrated openly, at great risk to themselves.
Ayatollah Khamenei was not only Iran’s head of state. He also presented himself as an authoritative Shiite Muslim cleric. He had devotees in Iraq and Lebanon, where his portrait is often seen at Shiite rallies, as well as in Pakistan and other countries in the region. » | Yeganeh Torbati | Thursday, July 2, 2026
