Iran has announced that its former supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, will be buried on July 9, more than four months after he was killed in airstrikes carried out by Israel and the United States.
According to Iranian state television, Khamenei will be laid to rest in his hometown of Mashhad, a major religious centre in northeastern Iran.
The burial had originally been planned for March but was postponed because of the conflict that followed his death.
State funeral ceremonies will begin in Tehran on July 4 and continue for three days. Another memorial event is scheduled to take place in the holy city of Qom on July 7 before the final burial ceremony in Mashhad.
The start of the funeral rites coincides with the United States’ Independence Day celebrations, which this year mark the country’s 250th anniversary.
Khamenei, who led Iran for nearly 37 years, was killed on February 28 during a wave of Israeli and American airstrikes that also claimed the lives of several senior Iranian officials.
Following his death, his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, was named Iran’s new supreme leader in early March, becoming only the third person to hold the position since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Mojtaba Khamenei was reportedly injured in the same strikes that killed his father. Since assuming office, he has largely remained out of public view, communicating through official statements attributed to him rather than making public appearances.
The funeral ceremonies are expected to draw senior government officials, religious leaders and supporters from across Iran as the country formally bids farewell to one of the most influential figures in its modern history.
