Mourners gather during a funeral procession on the day of the burial of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 in Israeli and U.S. airstrikes, in Mashhad, Iran, on July 9, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Iran on Friday (July 10, 2026) laid to rest its former supreme leader Ali Khamenei over four months after his killing in an airstrike, as two days of U.S. and Iranian attacks raised fears of a return to all-out war.
Khamenei’s flag-covered coffin was carried aloft into the shrine of Imam Reza in his home city of Mashhad in eastern Iran as a sea of people waited outside and listened to prayers, with no sign of a public appearance by his son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei.
A vehicle transports the coffin of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 in Israeli and U.S. airstrikes, and coffins of his family members, on the day of their burial, in a culmination of a mass funeral, in Mashhad, Iran, on July 9, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters
The “body of the martyred leader of the Islamic Revolution was buried in the memorial hall of the shrine of Imam Reza,” state broadcaster IRIB reported.
The burial came after a second day of tit-for-tat attacks by Washington and Tehran’s forces, with Iranian officials reporting that U.S. strikes killed 17 people and state media saying one targeted a railway line between Tehran and Mashhad.
The Islamic republic said it had resumed attacks targeting U.S. assets in Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar, while sirens blared in Jordan – another American ally – where the military said it had intercepted eight missiles launched from Iran.
Khamenei was killed alongside close family members on the first day of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran on February 28.
The last of a marathon six days of funeral ceremonies, Khamenei’s burial in Mashhad was closely watched for signs of Mojtaba Khamenei, who has yet to appear in public since being appointed.
Parliament speaker and chief negotiator in talks with the United States, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, powerful chief justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, and Khamenei’s eldest son Mostafa Khamenei were all present at the shrine, with some senior figures weeping over Khamenei’s coffin, state TV images showed.
But as on other days of the funeral process, there was no sign of Mojtaba Khamenei, who since being named has only communicated through written statements and is said to have been wounded in the February 28 strikes.
Khamenei is only the second ruler of the nation to be buried in the city of Mashhad. In 1747, Nader Shah was buried in the city after he was assassinated following nearly 11 years in power.
(With inputs from AFP, AP)
Published – July 10, 2026 06:31 am IST
