The funeral ceremonies for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed on February 28 by U.S./Israeli air strikes on the first day of the US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran began in Tehran this morning, with foreign dignitaries and religious figures paying their respects at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla Mosque, reported IRNA.
Representatives from Islamic centers, civic groups, and antiwar and anti-hegemony movements from several European countries, including Italy, the Netherlands, Britain, Denmark, and Austria, have traveled to Tehran to attend or provide media coverage of the ceremony, IRNA reports further.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said [https://tasnimnews.ir/en/news/2026/07/02/3631781/guests-from-about-100-countries-to-attend-martyred-leader-s-farewell-ceremony] in an interview with IRIB on Thursday that the ceremony of paying respects to the martyred Leader was to begin at 8 am Friday, with the participation of a large number of personalities and popular groups, and would continue until about noon, he noted. Subsequently, from about 1:30 pm to 2 pm, high-ranking officials of countries and political figures would be attending the ceremony, Baqaei stated. “In total, we will have guests from about 100 countries, including dignitaries, heads of state, parliament speakers, foreign ministers or special representatives of governments,” he added.
Numerous foreign delegations indeed came to pay their respects, mostly from Southwest Asia, East Asia and Africa. They included, among many others, a delegation from Pakistan led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and including army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, a delegation from Russia led by Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at the head of a group of government ministers, a separate delegation of Iranian military chiefs, along with numerous other Iranian delegations, delegations from Qatari, Azerbaijan, Lebanon, Palestinian resistance groups including Islamic Jihad and Hamas, a Saudi delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed El Khereiji, a Chinese delegation led by the Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress He Wei and too many others to list,
The farewell ceremony for Ayatollah Khamenei in which the general public will participate is scheduled to be held on Saturday and Sunday, July 4 and 5, while the funeral procession will take place in the capital on Monday, July 6. A procession will follow in the holy city of Qom on Tuesday, July 7, and a final procession will be held in the holy city of Mashhad on Thursday, July 9. The funeral procession will be in the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala on July 8.
Security is a serious concern for the Iranians in all this. Commander of the central Khatam al-Anbiya headquarters, Major General Ali Abdollahi warned in a statement ahead of the opening of the funeral ceremonies that Iran’s enemies as well as their regional and extra-regional allies to avoid any miscalculations and consider the harsh and regretful responses of Iran’s armed forces to any threat or aggression. Iran has tightened airspace restrictions and is deploying troops to the borders and other locations, as well as providing accommodations for the millions of pilgrims expected to participate.
