TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian authorities have announced a three-day public farewell for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a US-Israeli airstrike over the weekend, as the conflict between Tehran and its adversaries intensifies.
The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 10:00 pm local time (9:30 pm EAT) on Wednesday at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla in Tehran, according to the city’s Islamic Propagation Coordination Council, which is organising the event.
Khamenei’s body will lie in state for three days, allowing the public to pay their respects. A series of religious and cultural programmes are also planned in his honour.
“The prayer hall will be receiving visitors, and the dear people can attend and take part in the farewell ceremony and mark a strong presence once again,” the Council’s head, Hojjatoleslam Mahmoudi, told Iranian media, as quoted by Al Jazeera.
Organisers said a funeral procession will follow once the three-day observance concludes, although the exact timing and route are yet to be finalised.
Iranian media report that the 86-year-old cleric is likely to be buried in Mashhad, the northeastern city where he was born. His father is interred at the revered Imam Reza shrine in the city, one of Shia Islam’s holiest sites.
Close family members who were also killed in the airstrikes — including his wife, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren — are expected to be buried on the same day.
Authorities are preparing for large crowds in Tehran and Mashhad. Security has been heightened amid fears of further escalation in the region. The funeral of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989 drew an estimated 10 million mourners, underscoring the potential scale of the upcoming ceremonies.
The farewell comes as fighting between Iran, the United States, and Israel entered its fifth day. Iranian officials said nearly 800 people have died since the airstrikes began on Saturday, February 28.
The Iranian Red Crescent Society said emergency response teams have been deployed across more than 150 affected counties to provide medical and humanitarian assistance. Most reported casualties have been inside Iran.
The conflict has taken on the dimensions of a broader regional confrontation in the Gulf, raising concern among analysts about possible spillover beyond Iran’s borders.
Speaking from the Oval Office on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump suggested the war could last “a month or longer”, adding to uncertainty over how long hostilities may continue.
Regional observers warn that the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader marks a critical turning point for the Islamic Republic, both politically and militarily, as the country confronts internal succession questions while engaged in an expanding external conflict.
