Iran postpones Khamenei’s farewell commemoration

2026-03-04 - 13:43

TEHRAN — A ceremony commemorating Iran’s late leader Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran has been postponed, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency.The report comes hours after Hojjatoleslam Mahmoudi, head of Iran’s ⁠Islamic Propagation Council, has initially said the farewell ceremony would start at 10 pm (18:30 GMT) at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Prayer Hall, the grand prayer complex where Friday congregational prayers are traditionally held.Khamenei’s body will lie in state of honor at the prayer hall, with doors open for three days to allow mourners to pay their final respects.“The ⁠prayer hall will be ⁠receiving visitors and the dear people can attend and take part in the farewell ceremony and mark ⁠a strong presence once again,” Mahmoudi said in comments ⁠carried by Iranian media.The funeral procession will take place after the three-day mourning period.Planning is still underway, and details will be announced once finalized, organizers said.Tasnim quoted an official citing logistical issues for the postponing the ceremony, including requests from people in different provinces to attend.Funeral arrangements are ongoing and are expected to draw huge crowds, and, with them, the potential threat of US-Israeli attacks on a gathering of mass mourning.Some 10 million people attended Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s funeral in 1989.Khamenei was killed on Saturday, aged 86. He had been Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, succeeding Khomeini, the founder of