Funeral ceremonies for Iran's former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are due to begin in Tehran on Saturday, July 4, more than four months after he was killed in the opening phase of the Iran war.
Iranian officials have presented the rites as a national and religious event, with ceremonies planned in Tehran, Qom, Iraq and finally Mashhad, where he is scheduled to be buried on July 9.
State-linked organizers have spoken of urban crowd corridors, large accommodation capacity and the participation of huge numbers of people from inside and outside the country. Some official estimates have suggested that the turnout could reach into the tens of millions, although such projections remain impossible to verify in advance.
The timing of the funeral has also prompted discussion among religious commentators, as under Shiite Islamic tradition burial generally takes place soon after death.
Vahid Heroabadi, a former Shiite cleric living in Europe and a critic of the Islamic Republic, told DW that the delay conflicts with established religious practice.
