Iran’s slain Supreme Leader laid to rest in Mashhad

Iran’s slain Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was buried at the country’s holiest shrine, state media reported early on Friday, after huge crowds gathered for his funeral while his son and designated successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, remained out of public view.

The burial in the northeastern city of Mashhad followed a week of funeral processions, rallies and mourning ceremonies, coinciding with renewed tensions between Iran and the United States after weeks of truce in the four-month war.

Khamenei was killed in the opening strikes of the war launched by the United States and Israel on Feb. 28. Washington and Tehran agreed to a ceasefire last month.

His body was carried by truck through packed streets in Mashhad on Thursday toward the Shrine of Imam Reza, as white-turbaned clerics walked alongside the procession. Black-clad mourners followed, waving Iranian flags, portraits of Khamenei and red placards bearing revolutionary slogans.

The burial marked the culmination of a week of funeral ceremonies in Iran and Iraq that the Islamic Republic’s clerical leadership encouraged large crowds to attend in an effort to demonstrate the strength and ideological resolve of the country’s theocratic system.

Despite surviving months of war with the United States and Israel, Iran continues to face significant internal political and economic challenges, while the legacy of Khamenei’s 37-year rule remains deeply contested.