Iran’s late supreme leader Khamenei buried in Mashhad after week-long funeral

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Fleur Hargreaves

Fri, 07/10/2026 - 08:46

Over 40 million people participated in funeral ceremonies spanning Iran and Iraq

Crowds of mourners surround the convoy carrying the coffins of Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei and his family members during a funeral procession in Mashhad, 9 July 2026 (Atta Kenare/AFP)

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Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated by US-Israeli strikes on 28 February, has been buried in his hometown of Mashhad following a six-day-long funeral procession.

Iranian media reported that between 41 and 43 million people participated in the ceremony, with Iran’s Press TV calling it “the largest procession the world has ever witnessed”.

State funeral proceedings began on Saturday when tens of thousands of Iranians gathered at the Grand Mosalla religious complex in Tehran to see Khamenei’s coffin.

Ceremonies took place across five cities in Iraq and Iran, including Tehran, Qom, Najaf, Karbala and Mashhad - where he was buried in the country’s holiest Shia shrine.

Mourners called for revenge, including leading chants of “Death to America” and holding banners reading “Kill Trump”. Others carried red flags bearing the word “Martyr”.

Ali Khamenei took over the role as the country’s political and religious figurehead in 1989 from Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, after serving as Iran’s president during the Iran-Iraq war.

He was Iran’s supreme leader for almost four decades before he was killed at age 86 alongside his daughter, son-in-law and graddaughter in a joint US-Israeli air strike on his compound in Tehran.

The attack marked the first day of the US-Israel war on Iran, which remains ongoing - and has failed to achieve its initial war goals to bring about Iranian surrender and regime change by toppling the supreme leader.

Is Iran the new regional superpower?

Rather than destabilising the country, Iran has arguably emerged stronger, exerting strategic dominance by cutting off the Strait of Hormuz and forcing the US to come to the negotiating table.

Meanwhile, Trump’s militarism has lost him popularity in the US, with a majority of American voters agreeing the Iran war is “not worth it”, according to a recent poll.

Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has remained out of public view since he came to power, but three of Khamenei’s sons, who had not been seen since the start of the war, attended the funeral.

Delegations from several countries were in attendance, including senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Russia, China and Turkey.

Supporters from Hamas and Islamic Jihad from Gaza, Hezbollah from Lebanon and Ansar Allah (Houthis) from Yemen also came to pay their respects at the memorial ceremony.

This comes as renewed fighting between the US and Iran threatens the fragile truce held in place by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreed last month, after Trump declared the ceasefire over and called Iranian leaders “scum” on Wednesday.

War on Iran

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