A national mourning ceremony has begun in the Iranian capital,\nTehran, for former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, months after\nhe was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the first day of the US-Israeli\nwar with Iran on 28 February 2026. Crowds have been arriving at the site\nsince dawn.<\/p>\n
State television footage showed the religious leader\u2019s coffin lying\nin state at the Grand Mosalla Mosque on Saturday, with large numbers of\nsupporters arriving at the venue. The ceremony is scheduled to last\nthree days in Tehran before Khamenei\u2019s body is taken to the pilgrimage\ncity of Qom and then to Iraq. The former supreme leader will then be\nburied in his birthplace, Mashhad, on Thursday. Khamenei died at the age\nof 86 in a targeted airstrike on his official residence in Tehran on 28\nFebruary 2026. His death was followed by more than five weeks of\nfighting between Iran, Israel, and the US, involving Iran-backed groups\nincluding Lebanon\u2019s Hezbollah. US and Iranian representatives agreed to\na ceasefire in early April 2026.<\/p>\n
As supreme leader, Khamenei was Iran\u2019s highest political and\nreligious authority, with the final say on all strategic matters. He\nruled the Islamic Republic with an iron fist until his death. Observers\nwill be closely watching the appearance of Khamenei\u2019s son, Mojtaba\nKhamenei, during the ceremony. Mojtaba was appointed as Iran\u2019s new\nsupreme leader a week after his father\u2019s death. He was seriously injured\nin the attack that killed his father and has not appeared in public\nsince his appointment, fuelling speculation about his health.<\/p>\n
President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher\nQalibaf, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held separate meetings with\nforeign leaders and delegations in Tehran on Friday, on the sidelines of\nKhamenei\u2019s funeral. Pezeshkian met with Russian Security Council Deputy\nChairman Dmitry Medvedev, who visited Tehran as a special envoy of\nPresident Vladimir Putin. The Iranian president thanked Moscow for its\ncondolences and support, and called for accelerating the implementation\nof Iran-Russia agreements and expanding cooperation in the economy,\ntrade, energy, and transit, particularly through the International\nNorth-South Transport Corridor. Medvedev conveyed Putin\u2019s condolences\nand condemned the US-Israeli attacks on Iran as a violation of\ninternational law and the UN Charter, reaffirming Moscow\u2019s commitment to\nimplementing the comprehensive strategic partnership agreement with\nTehran.<\/p>\n
Pezeshkian also held separate meetings with delegations from China,\nNamibia, and Afghanistan, thanking them for condemning the attack on\nIran. He stressed Tehran\u2019s readiness to expand political, economic,\ntrade, cultural, scientific, and technological cooperation with these\nnations. In a meeting with Turkmenistan\u2019s national leader Gurbanguly\nBerdimuhamedow, Pezeshkian praised Ashgabat\u2019s support and called for the\nswift implementation of agreements in energy, transport, transit, trade,\nand investment. Berdimuhamedow said Turkmenistan would continue to\nsupport Iran and regional cooperation. Pezeshkian also met with Armenian\nPrime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, with both sides emphasising their\nhistoric ties and the need to protect bilateral relations from external\ninterference. Pashinyan stated that Armenia would not participate in any\nproject or action targeting Iran\u2019s interests or security. In talks with\nIraqi President Nizar Amidi, Pezeshkian described Iraq as a \u2018brotherly\u2019\nstate and urged Islamic countries to strengthen unity against regional\ninstability. Amidi said Iraq condemned the attack on Iran and considered\nthe Iranian people\u2019s grief as its own.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/national-mourning-ceremony-for-ali-khamenei-begins-in-tehran-1783155113", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }