Iran postpones state funeral for Khamenei

Iran has postponed the state funeral of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, which was initially scheduled to hold on Wednesday evening in Tehran, citing expectations of an unprecedented public turnout.

State television announced the decision on Wednesday, stating, “The farewell ceremony for the martyred Imam has been postponed. The new date will be announced later.”

Khamenei, 86, was reportedly killed over the weekend during joint United States–Israeli airstrikes that targeted military and government infrastructure in Tehran.

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The strikes, which began on Saturday, have continued to pound parts of the Iranian capital.

Earlier on Wednesday, authorities had indicated that a tribute ceremony would take place in Tehran before Khamenei’s body would be transported for burial in the holy city of Mashhad, his birthplace.

However, officials later announced the postponement, attributing the decision partly to logistics.

Mohsen Mahmoudi, head of Tehran’s Islamic Development Coordination Council — the body organising the funeral — said the move was due to “the expected participation of millions of people and the need to provide the proper infrastructure” to manage such a large crowd.

Authorities did not directly link the postponement to the ongoing security situation in the country.

The development comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East following the recent escalation between Iran, the United States and Israel.

(AFP)