DUBAI: The funeral for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will begin in Tehran on July 4 and conclude with his burial in his hometown, the northeastern holy city of Mashhad, on July 9, state media reported on Saturday. Khamenei was killed on the first day of Israeli and US air strikes against Iran on February 28. The 86-year-old cleric had been at the helm of the Islamic Republic for 36 years.
The funeral arrangements will include ceremonies on July 7 in the holy city of Qom, south of Tehran, media said.
Khamenei remained a strong critic of the United States throughout his rule, while successive US administrations tried unsuccessfully to resolve a dispute with Iran over its nuclear programme. The air strike that killed him pulverised his central Tehran compound. His 56-year-old son Mojtaba, who also lost his wife in the air strike and was himself injured, succeeded his father as Supreme Leader. — Reuters
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