Iran is preparing for the funeral of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, nearly 4 months after he was killed in a joint U.S. and Israeli strike that reshaped the balance of power in the Middle East. The ceremony, scheduled to run from July 4 through July 9, is expected to become one of the largest public events in the history of the Islamic Republic, drawing millions of mourners, senior foreign officials, and religious figures from across the Shiite world.

The funeral comes at a sensitive moment. A fragile U.S. and Iran ceasefire has been in place since April 8, 2026, while the June 17 U.S. and Iran Memorandum of Understanding, also known as the Islamabad Memorandum, has created a formal track for talks that remain under pressure. The next round of negotiations is expected after the funeral, following recent exchanges that threatened to undermine the ceasefire.

Khamenei was killed on February 28, 2026, during the opening hours of the war, when U.S. and Israeli forces carried out coordinated strikes against senior Iranian leadership targets in Tehran. Intelligence provided by the CIA and Mossad reportedly identified the locations of several senior officials, including Khamenei, allowing precision strikes that heavily damaged his residential compound. Satellite imagery released afterward showed widespread destruction across the complex. Reports later indicated that an earlier Israeli proposal to target Khamenei during the 2025 conflict had been rejected by President Donald Trump, making the February operation the first successful attempt to eliminate the Islamic Republic’s highest authority.

The funeral is structured as a nationwide and regional series of ceremonies rather than a single event. Beginning on July 4, Khamenei’s body will lie in state at Imam Khomeini Mosalla in Tehran, where the public will be allowed to pay its respects through July 5. On July 6, a large funeral procession is scheduled to move through the streets of the capital. Local authorities estimate attendance in Tehran alone could reach between 15 million and 20 million people.

The ceremonies will continue on July 7 in the city of Qom before moving into Iraq on July 8, where processions are planned in Najaf and Karbala, 2 of Shiite Islam’s holiest cities. The body will then return to Iran for burial on July 9 at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, one of the most important religious sites in the country. Iranian officials also organized a separate ceremony for foreign dignitaries in Tehran on July 3, ahead of the public events.

Iranian officials claim as many as 35 million people could participate in funeral events nationwide, although that figure cannot be independently verified and may prove to be significantly lower. More than 30 countries are expected to send official delegations, while religious leaders from more than 90 countries have been invited to participate in different stages of the ceremonies. If even a portion of those estimates materialize, the funeral would rank among the largest public gatherings ever organized by the Islamic Republic.

Preparing for crowds of that size has required one of the most extensive security operations in recent Iranian history. Authorities have mobilized large numbers of Basij militia members alongside police, intelligence services, and other security forces to secure procession routes, religious sites, and transportation hubs. Crowd management has become a major concern following deadly stampedes during previous high profile funerals in Iran, including those of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989 and IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020.

The long delay between Khamenei’s death and burial has also attracted attention. Under Islamic law, burial normally takes place as quickly as possible, and chemical embalming is generally prohibited. Iranian religious authorities are believed to have relied on refrigerated preservation rather than embalming, using clerical approval to postpone burial while political and security arrangements were finalized.

The funeral serves as a major political event.

Senior Iranian officials have increasingly framed the ceremonies around themes of resistance and retaliation. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said Iran must “rise up and convey the nation’s call for avenging the blood of the martyred Leader” to the world. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has warned that Iran would respond immediately and forcefully to any future threats against its leadership, comments that followed earlier statements by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declaring that Khamenei had been “marked for death” before the February strike.

At the same time, uncertainty continues to surround Khamenei’s successor. His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, was selected as the new Supreme Leader on March 8, but he has remained almost entirely absent from public view. His prolonged absence has fueled speculation about both his health and his ability to consolidate authority within the Islamic regime. Whether he will make a major public appearance during the funeral has become one of the most closely watched questions surrounding the ceremonies.

The diplomatic calendar adds another layer of significance.

Indirect negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, led by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on the American side, are expected to resume after the funeral concludes. Those talks, held in Qatar, have struggled to maintain momentum following military exchanges that threatened the ceasefire that has been in place since April 8, 2026. The June 17 Islamabad Memorandum established a framework for de escalation and future negotiations, but recent exchanges between the 2 sides have exposed how fragile that framework remains.

For regional observers, the funeral will test the Islamic regime’s ability to project stability after losing its most powerful figure, measure Mojtaba Khamenei’s authority at the beginning of his leadership, and reveal whether official calls for revenge remain political messaging or evolve into policy. With millions expected on the streets, heightened security across multiple countries, and negotiations set to resume immediately afterward, the week surrounding Khamenei’s funeral is likely to become one of the most closely watched periods in the Middle East since the war began.