Iran Announces State Funeral Dates for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei; Burial in Mashhad on July 9  

Tehran: Iran has fixed the dates for the state funeral of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, that will begin on July 4. He will be buried in Mashhad on July 9. The announcement came from the Tehran administration. The timing is significant. The country is currently in the middle of Muharram, with religious mourning programs running across Iran.

Why did it take so long?

Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani gave the explanation. The original funeral plan was changed because of Muharram. The authorities did not want the state funeral to clash with or overshadow the traditional mourning rituals for Imam Hussain. According to reports, Zakani told that the wait for the ten days of Muharram to pass was a deliberate decision. The idea was to let the people observe their religious mourning for Imam Hussain first, with full focus and tradition. Then, will hold the state funeral. For Shia Muslims, Muharram is among the most sacred periods of the year. Every year large gatherings are held to remember the martyrdom of Imam Hussain at the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE. Mixing that with a political state funeral was not something the authorities were willing to do.

How Khamenei was killed?

On February 28, the US and Israel launched joint strikes on central Tehran. One of those strikes hit Khamenei's residence. He was killed that day. His death also marked the day the wider Middle East conflict began. After he died, Iran had planned to hold the state funeral on March 4. The war made that impossible. It kept getting pushed for months. Now with the conflict moving towards a ceasefire, the country is finally in a position to hold the ceremony.

What is being planned?

The preparations are on a massive scale. Around two crore people from across the world are expected to attend the funeral ceremonies between July 4 and July 9. Security arrangements, traffic control and public order planning are all being worked out at a national level. The procession will move from Tehran to Mashhad. Khamenei led the Islamic Republic for close to 37 years. His funeral is being described as one of the biggest public gatherings in Iran's modern history.