Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's Funeral Prayers Held in Tehran

Funeral prayers for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and four of his family members were held today at the Grand Mosalla mosque in Tehran. The main ceremony began at 8:00 a.m. local time (10:30 a.m. BST).

Led by senior Shia cleric Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani, the prayers were conducted in three stages. The first honored Ayatollah Khamenei, followed by prayers for his daughter Boshra, son-in-law Mesbah Bagheri, and daughter-in-law Zahra Haddad-Adel. A final prayer was offered for his 14-month-old granddaughter, Zahra Mohammadi Golpayegani.Hundreds of thousands of mourners gathered at the mosque complex. Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that the main courtyards were filled hours before the ceremony began.

These prayers mark the commencement of a massive, delayed six-day state funeral. The nationwide farewell comes more than four months after Khamenei, 86, and his relatives were killed in a U.S.-Israeli airstrike on February 28. Iran has declared an extended period of state mourning to mark the occasion. Khamenei, who governed as Iran's supreme leader since 1989, has been lying in state since Friday for the public to pay their final respects. Following the events in Tehran, his body will be transported to the city of Qom on July 7.

The funeral procession will then cross into Iraq on July 8 for religious ceremonies in the shrine cities of Baghdad, Najaf, and Karbala, before returning to Iran for a final burial at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad on July 9.