The government of Iran has announced a three-day state funeral for former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. At present the date has not been announced. Funerals and memorial services may take place at the end of Dhul-Hijja, the last month of the Islamic calendar. That means around June 15th. Officials said that according to Khamenei’s wishes, he will be buried at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad.
Funeral services will be held in Tehran, Qom and Mashhad. Large scale condolence marches and tribute meetings will be organized in these cities. Speaking to Iran’s state TV channel IRIB, Tavakoli-Zadeh said that millions of people are expected to attend in the three cities. Tehran’s deputy mayor Mohammad Amin Tavakoli-Zadeh said that several other provinces of Iran also want to organize tribute events.
2 crore people will gather in Tehran
It is being told that the main event to be held in Tehran will last for at least 24 hours. In Tehran alone, 15 million to 20 million people can come to pay their last respects to Khamenei. To handle such a huge crowd, the administration is preparing security, traffic and other necessary arrangements. This decision has been taken 3 months after Khamenei’s death. Generally, according to Islamic tradition, a person’s last rites are performed within a few days of death. But Iranian officials had earlier postponed this program.
Why was the last rites not performed earlier?
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a US-Israeli attack on February 28. After his death, Iranian officials gave a statement in March. He said that due to the huge crowd and challenges regarding arrangements, it is not possible to conduct the last rites immediately. According to Iran’s government news agency IRNA, the state funeral will be held in mid-June. However, its exact date and time have not been officially announced yet. The funeral will be held on a very large scale and a large number of people from Iran as well as many Muslim countries can participate in it. A large number of people from Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Bangladesh and Kashmir are also expected to reach Mashhad.
Khamenei was the Supreme Leader of Iran for 3 decades
Khamenei was 86 years old. He was the supreme leader of Iran for more than three decades. While holding this post, he was considered the most powerful political and religious leader of the country. After Khamenei’s death, his son Ayatollah Mujtaba Khamenei was elected the new supreme leader. However, according to reports, he has not been seen in public since assuming the post.
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