Mapping Iran’s Ali Khamenei funeral: Where mourners will gather each day

Funeral ceremonies and processions for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei are scheduled to take place from July 3 to July 9, spanning several cities in Iran and Iraq before his burial in Mashhad. Millions of mourners are expected to gather over these seven days for religious rites and public farewells.

Khamenei, 86, was killed alongside several family members in a joint US-Israeli airstrike on his compound on February 28, marking the first day of the war. The burial had been initially scheduled for March but was postponed due to the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran.

The funeral ceremonies will commence in Tehran on July 3, with global leaders, senior officials, religious figures, and scholars expected to pay their respects. Public funeral ceremonies will continue in Tehran on July 4 and 5, with Khamenei's coffin lying in state at the Grand Mosalla, one of Iran's largest prayer complexes, for public viewing.

From July 6 and 7, funeral processions will move through other parts of Tehran before proceeding to Qom, a major center for Shia Islamic scholarship and one of Iran's holiest cities. Qom is home to significant seminaries where Khamenei himself studied. On July 8, an official reception is planned at Najaf International Airport in Iraq, followed by public processions in the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala, both significant sites for Shia Muslims.

This extensive funeral program will be the first major state ceremony conducted under Khamenei's successor and son, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has remained out of public view since the war began four months prior.