Iran’s slain leader Khamenei laid in state in Tehran for week of mass funeral events

Iran is staging a week of mass funeral processions for its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a war with the US and Israel. His body lay in state in Tehran on Friday, drawing clerics, officials, and foreign dignitaries. The extensive funeral events aim to project public devotion to the Islamic Republic.

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The body of Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was lying in state in a vast hall in Tehran on Friday as clerics, officials, foreign dignitaries and other mourners paid their respects ​after his 37-year rule.

Khamenei's coffin was unveiled to sobbing supporters, who beat their heads in time to a lament. His body is expected to travel to Qom, Najaf, and Kerbala before burial in Mashhad. This funeral comes at a pivotal moment for Iran's clerical rulers, who have recently navigated what they perceived as an existential conflict. However, despite official calls for national unity, the Islamic Republic faces significant internal fractures.

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Iran is staging a week of mass funeral processions for Khamenei, killed in February by US and Israeli airstrikes at the start of a four-month war, in a show of public devotion ‌to the Islamic Republic’s theocratic state and revolutionary fire.

Analysts suggest support for the clerical leadership is thin. The new Supreme Leader, Khamenei's son Mojtaba Khamenei, has not appeared publicly since his father's death. Years of sanctions have weakened the economy, while nationwide protests have been met with increasing force, resulting in numerous deaths. Authorities are using the funeral to display state power and mobilize mourners, aiming to project an image of mass support.

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Support for the clerical leadership is paper-thin, analysts say, and the new Supreme Leader, Khamenei’s son Mojtaba Khamenei, has not been seen ​in public since being wounded in the strike that killed his father.