Agencies | Mashhad Iran:
Iran on Friday laid to rest its former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 131 days after he was killed in a US-Israeli airstrike that marked the beginning of the war in West Asia.
Khamenei was buried in the early hours of Friday, July 10, at the Imam Reza Shrine in his hometown of Mashhad. His official X account announced that the “sacred body” of the late leader had been laid to rest in the Dar al-Zikr section of the shrine.
“The sacred body of the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei, was laid to rest in the early hours of Friday, 10 July 2026 (19 Tir 1405 in the Iranian calendar), at the Dar al-Zikr section of the holy shrine of Imam Reza (peace be upon him),” the statement said.
The announcement was accompanied by a post in Persian and a video of the burial ceremony.
Thousands Gather in Mashhad for Final Farewell
Large crowds assembled in Mashhad as Khamenei’s coffin was taken to the Imam Reza Shrine, one of the holiest sites for Shia Muslims in Iran. Mourners were seen beating their chests and grieving as they paid their final respects before the burial.
Khamenei was killed alongside close family members in an Israeli airstrike on February 28, the first day of the US-Israeli war against Iran. His death brought to an end more than three decades as Iran’s supreme leader, a position he assumed in 1989, a decade after the Islamic Revolution.
During his tenure, Khamenei wielded significant influence over Iran’s political, economic, and military institutions, shaping the country’s domestic and foreign policies for over 35 years.
Senior Leaders Attend Burial
Several of Iran’s top officials attended the burial ceremony, including Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, and Khamenei’s eldest son, Mostafa Khamenei.
However, Khamenei’s son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, was notably absent from the ceremony. He has not appeared in public since the airstrike that killed his father and triggered the war. While written statements attributed to him have been released in recent months, no images, videos, or audio recordings of him have been made
