Tehran, Jul 03 (V7N) — Iran has begun a seven-day period of mourning, funeral ceremonies and memorial processions for its late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ahead of his burial in the holy city of Mashhad on July 9. Millions of mourners are expected to participate in events across Iran and Iraq.
Iranian authorities had initially considered burying Ayatollah Khamenei in March but postponed the plan due to the prolonged conflict involving the United States and Israel.
According to the official schedule, world leaders and foreign dignitaries will pay their respects in Tehran on July 3. A state funeral will then be held on July 4 and 5 at Tehran's Grand Mosque, one of the country's largest prayer venues, in the presence of members of Khamenei's family.
On July 6 and 7, his body will be taken to the holy city of Qom, the center of Shiite Islamic scholarship in Iran, where farewell ceremonies will be held.
Iranian and Iraqi officials said that, at the request of Iraq's Shiite community, Khamenei's body will then be transported to Iraq. On July 8, it will be received at Najaf International Airport before memorial processions are held in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.
Following those ceremonies, the body will be returned to Iran for a final farewell and burial on July 9 at the shrine of Imam Reza, the eighth Imam in Shiite Islam, in Mashhad.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei became Iran's Supreme Leader in 1989 following the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the 1979 Islamic Revolution. According to Iranian authorities, Khamenei and several members of his family were killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli airstrike on February 28, the first day of the conflict between Iran, the United States and Israel.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh National Assembly Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed has traveled to Iran at the invitation of Tehran to attend the funeral ceremonies and pay his respects to the late Supreme Leader.
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