The funeral for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will begin in Tehran on July 4 and conclude with his burial in his hometown, the northeastern holy city of Mashhad, on July 9, state media reported on Saturday.
Khamenei was killed on the first day of Israeli and U.S. airstrikes against Iran on February 28. The 86-year-old cleric had been at the helm of the Islamic Republic for 36 years.
The funeral arrangements will include ceremonies on July 7 in the holy city of Qom, south of Tehran, media said.
Islamic law requires the deceased to be buried as soon as possible, and ideally within 24 hours of death, but exceptions are allowed, for example in time of war.
During his rule, Khamenei built Iran into a powerful anti-U.S. force, spreading its military sway across the Middle East through proxy forces such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, while using an iron fist to crush outbreaks of unrest at home.
Khamenei remained a strong critic of the United States throughout his rule, while successive U.S. administrations tried unsuccessfully to resolve a dispute with Iran over its nuclear programme.
