Iran Begins Dayslong Funeral For Khamenei

RFE
04 Jul 2026

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09:43

Iran Begins Dayslong Funeral For Khamenei

By

Kian Sharifi

A giant banner with an image of Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is seen hanging on a building near Tehran's Grand Mosalla prayer complex during Khamenei's funeral ceremonies in Tehran on July 4.

The six-day funeral ceremonies for Irans late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has begun in Tehran.

Doors to the Mosalla prayer grounds opened in the early morning, with hundreds of supporters of the Islamic republic waiting to enter.

There is heavy security presence around the venue, with reports suggesting a no-vehicle zone has been established in a kilometer-radius around the Mosalla.

Coffins containing the bodies of Khamenei and four of his family members killed in the first day of the US-Israeli war against Iran are on display and will remain there until July 6.

Khameneis remains will then be taken to the holy city of Qom before being put on display in Baghdad, Karbala, and Najaf in neighboring Iraq. Khamenei will be buried in his home city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran on July 9.

Senior Iranian officials and foreign dignitaries paid their respects on July 3, but Mojtaba Khamenei, the late supreme leaders second-born son and his successor, did not make an appearance.

The younger Khamenei, the Islamic republics third supreme leader, has not been seen in public since he suffered injuries in the same attack that killed his father as well as his wife.

It remains unclear who will pray over Khameneis remains in Qom, but reports in Iran suggest it will not be the new supreme leader but a high-ranking cleric.

In the lead-up to the funeral, Iranian authorities variously described the ceremony as the most important event of the century and the most unique event in human history.

But Taghi Rahmi, a rights activist and husband of Nobel Peace Prize Winner Narges Mohammadi, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that the drawn-out affair is designed as a show of the state "still standing" and reasserting itself after the war.

It will also seek to gloss over the thousands of deaths at the hands of the Khamenei regime, which had a long record of executions, mass arrests, torture, prison abuse, and deadly crackdowns on dissent -- including the persecution of women, activists, journalists, and political prisoners.

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00:10

Oman Agrees With Britain, France To Safeguard Hormuz Shipping

The British and French leaders said the Gulf state of Oman has agreed to work with the two European countries to ensure that the crucial Strait of Hormuz remains open to world shipping.

"The Strait of Hormuz is a vital artery for the global economy. Restoring safe transit for ships of all nations through the strait is a matter of global concern," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron said in a joint statement on July 3.

"The Sultanate of Oman has agreed to work with the United Kingdom and France to ensure that its sovereign territorial waters are safe for navigation," the statement added.

Vessels float in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman.

The important waterway -- through which 20 percent of the worlds oil and gas transits was effectively blocked by Iran in response to the US and Israeli air strikes beginning on February 28.

The move, and a subsequent blockade of Iranian ports by US forces, sent global fuel prices soaring.

As part of a now-fragile cease-fire between Iran and the US, the shipping lane has been reopened, although incidents in and around the strait have kept tensions high in the region.

Britain and France have been preparing to launch a coordinated mission to keep the strait free from future blockades, although no specific plans have been announced.

"The United Kingdom and France reaffirm their shared commitment to regional stability, respect for the sovereignty of all states, and their willingness to maintain close cooperation with their partners in order to uphold global security, freedom of navigation and international law," the statement by Starmer and Macron said.

With reporting by dpa Share

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22:02

3.7.2026

News Analysis: Curtains On Khamenei As Iran Stages Five-Day Farewell

More than four months after he was killed in the opening strikes of the war with the United States and Israel, Ali Khamenei, who ruled the country for more than three decades with an iron first, is finally being buried.

Starting on July 4, Iran is staging what officials are calling one of the largest, most complex funerals in its history: five days of ceremonies stretching across Tehran, Qom, and Mashhad -- with stops in Baghdad, Karbala, and Najaf in neighboring Iraq -- before his body reaches its final resting place at the Imam Reza shrine on July 9.

The event is expected to have the scale of pageantry usually reserved for founding figures, but having ruled Iran for nearly 37 years, Khamenei leaves as the Islamic republic's longest-serving supreme leader and a defining force in Iran's modern history.

The drawn-out affair, according to Taghi Rahmani, a rights activist and husband of Nobel Peace Prize Winner Narges Mohammadi, is designed as a show of the state "still standing" and reasserting itself after the war. It will also attempt to gloss over the deaths of tens of thousands of Iranians at the hands of Khamenei's regime.

To read the full news analysis, clickhere.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei greets the crowd on June 4, 2018, during a ceremony in Tehran on the occasion of the 29th anniversary of the death of the founder of the Islamic republic.

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21:57

3.7.2026

Netanyahu's Office Denies NYT Report On Israel Plotting To Kill Iranian Negotiators

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied a story by The New York Times thatreportedUS officials believed Israel might have been plotting to kill two top Iranian officials.

Citing unnamed US officials, The New York Times reported on July 2 that American officials feared Israel would target Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Iran's chief negotiators, during talks over an interim US-Iran deal that was signed in June.

Concerned that an Israeli assassination attempt could scupper negotiations, the administration of US President Donald Trump indirectly alerted Iran in April, The New York Times reported.

"As usual, The New York Times' latest story about Israel and the Iranian negotiators is fake news. A complete fabrication of reality," Netanyahu's office said in a July 3post on X.

Israel assassinated dozens of Iranian military and political leaders, including the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the first few weeks of the war that started on February 28.

In March, The Wall Street Journal reported that Araqchi and Qalibaf were on Israel's target list.

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20:01

3.7.2026

Houthis Threaten Saudi Arabia Over Iran Flight

Armed Yemenis brandish their weapons as they rally in solidarity with Lebanon and Iran on the outskirts of the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa, on July 2.

Yemen's Houthi rebels said they confronted Saudi Arabian "warplanes" that allegedly attempted to prevent an Iranian civilian aircraft from landing in the capital, Sanaa.

According to a July 3 statement by the Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea, the Iran-backed group warned it would target "Saudi airports and vital interests on land and sea" if Riyadh continued to violate Yemeni airspace, he added.

Earlier, local media said the aircraft successfully landed and headed back to Tehran carrying the Houthi delegation to attend the funeral of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli air strike on the first day of the war on February 28.

The Houthi rebels are a key ally of Tehran and entered the war in March when they fired missiles at Israel.

War broke out between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis in 2015. A UN-brokered truce in 2022 largely stopped the fighting.

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19:13

3.7.2026

NATO To Reiterate At Summit Iran Must Never Have Nuclear Weapons

NATO leaders will reiterate that Iran "must never have a nuclear weapon and call on Iran to fully respect freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz."

That's according to a text approved by NATO ambassadors on July 3 and reviewed by Reuters.

NATO leaders will meet at a summit in Ankara next week.

Under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by Tehran and Washington on June 17, Iran agreed to allow 60 days of toll-free navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery for global energy supplies.

Under the interim agreement, Iran also reaffirmed that it will not "procure or develop nuclear weapons."

The sides have 60 days to reach a lasting peace deal, but several thorny issues, including the fate of Irans nuclear program, remain unresolved.

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14:51

3.7.2026

Mixed Feelings Among Iranians As Khamenei's Body Lies In State

By

RFE/RL's Radio Farda

The remains of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some of his relatives lie in state at Tehran's Grand Mosalla on June 3.

The body of Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was laid in state in Tehran on July 3 as authorities began a week of funeral processions for the slain cleric amid mixed reactions among Iranians over a man whose more than three decades in power was marked by oppression and the death of tens of thousands of Iranians through crackdowns and executions.

Foreign dignitaries began arriving in the capital early in the day ahead of official mourning ceremonies set for July 4 for Khamenei, who was killed at the age of 86 in US and Israeli air strikes on February 28.

It is unclear whether Mojtaba Khamenei -- who was appointed to replace his father but has not appeared in public since his parent's death -- will attend the ceremonies.

"This goes beyond an ordinary funeral procession," Babak Dorbeiki, a UK-based political analyst, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda.

"It serves a full political function, a legitimizing function, and it's meant to reinforce their own propaganda."

Read morehere

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12:07

3.7.2026

As Iran Prepares Elaborate Funeral For Khamenei, Many Recall A Brutal Leader

By

RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Iran's government is preparing a multiday funeral ceremony for late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US and Israeli strikes in February. But many Iranians are not mourning his loss, and are instead sharing complex reactions to the death of a man who led an oppressive theocratic regime.