Iran is preparing the largest state funeral in the history of the Islamic Republic, with ceremonies spanning five cities across Iran and Iraq over six days beginning Saturday, as the country buries the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei nearly four months after his death in the opening US-Israeli strikes of the war on 28 February.
Khamenei served as the Islamic Republic's ayatollah for 37 years, the second-longest-serving holder of the position since the Islamic Republic's founding following the 1979 revolution.
Born in 1939 in Mashhad, he served as Iran's president from 1981 to 1989 before being selected as ayatollah by the Assembly of Experts — the elected body of Islamic scholars responsible for appointing the supreme leader — following the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
The body has been lying in state since the start of the war. The four-month delay was the direct result of the war, the ceasefire and the subsequent negotiation process.
Authorities say the timing has now been set for a period of relative de-escalation, with both Iran and the US pausing exchanges of fire as talks on the memorandum of understanding continue.
