Mapping Iran’s Ali Khamenei funeral: Where mourners will gather each day

EXPLAINERFuneral ceremonies and processions for Iran’s late supreme leader will take place between July 3-9 in several cities across Iran and Iraq before his burial in Mashhad.Starting on July 3, millions of mourners are expected to gather for seven days of funeral ceremonies and processions for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, with religious rites planned in cities across Iran and Iraq.The burial, initially scheduled for March, was postponed as the US and Israeli war with Iran dragged on.Khamenei, 86, was killed alongside several family members in a joint US-Israeli air strike on his compound on February 28, the first day of the war.A satellite image shows black smoke rising and heavy damage at the compound of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei [Reuters]Who was Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led Iran from 1989, following the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who had spearheaded the Islamic revolution a decade earlier and became the country’s first supreme leader.While Khomeini was the ideological force behind the revolution that ended the rule of the Pahlavi monarchy, Khamenei shaped the military and paramilitary apparatus.The funeral will also be the first major state ceremony under his successor and son, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has remained out of public view since the US-Israel war began four months ago.Seven days of funeral ritesA seven-day funeral programme will take place across Iran and Iraq, beginning in Tehran on July 3 when global leaders, senior officials, religious figures and scholars from around the world will pay their respects.July 4 and 5On July 4 and 5, public funeral ceremonies will begin in Tehran. The coffin, along with those of several family members, will lie in state at the Grand Mosalla for public farewells. Built to accommodate large congregations, Grand Mosalla is one of Iran’s largest prayer complexes and has long served as a venue for major religious observances and state occasions.Eid al-Fitr at the Grand Mosalla of Tehran, in 2025 [Creative Commons]July 6 and 7On July 6 and 7, the funeral processions will move through other parts of Tehran before continuing to Qom, about 120km (75 miles) south of the capital.