The funeral procession for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei got underway in Tehran on July 6, 2026, drawing millions of mourners onto streets that stretched from Damavand Street in the city's east through Enqelab and Azadi streets and along Lashkari Highway, according to IRNA.

The procession is the culmination of a multi-day ritual that began in earnest on July 4, when public farewell ceremonies opened at Tehran's Mosalla prayer complex at around 6 a.m. local time. PressTV reported millions gathered in the capital for the procession, while representatives from more than 70 countries were present for the broader funeral events — an attendance level that reflects Khamenei's stature as the Islamic Republic's longest-serving Supreme Leader and a central figure in the Shia world's political theology.

Funeral prayers were held on July 5 at Imam Khomeini Mosalla, led by Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani. The ceremony was structured in three stages, with the first stage devoted specifically to prayers over the body of the Leader, followed by prayers for his companions, IRNA reported.

A Circuit Through Shia Sacred Geography

From Tehran, the procession schedule moves to Qom on Tuesday — the theological heartland of Iranian Twelver Shiism and the city where Khamenei studied under Ayatollah Boroujerdi. It then crosses an international border: ceremonies are planned for the Iraqi shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala on Wednesday, before the procession concludes in Mashhad. IRNA confirmed this four-city itinerary.

Burial is scheduled for July 9, 2026, at the holy shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad — carried out in accordance with Khamenei's own will, PressTV reported. The choice of the Imam Reza shrine is theologically weighted: Imam Reza, the eighth Imam in Twelver Shia tradition, is the only Imam buried on Iranian soil, making the Mashhad complex the single most important pilgrimage site within Iran's borders. Authorities expected more than one million mourners for the Mashhad leg alone, according to the New York Times.

The routing of the procession through Najaf and Karbala — both in Iraq, both housing the shrines of Imam Ali and Imam Hussein respectively — extends the state funeral into the transnational geography of Shia Islam. It also carries an implicit diplomatic signal: Iraqi government cooperation is required for the ceremonies, and their inclusion signals functional alignment between Tehran and Baghdad at a moment of regional flux.

Succession and What Follows

The full funeral schedule was announced on June 13, 2026, PressTV reported, suggesting the Islamic Republic moved with deliberate coordination from the moment of Khamenei's death — a contrast to the chaotic succession moment after Ayatollah Khomeini's death in 1989, when the Assembly of Experts convened with urgency to elevate Khamenei himself within hours.

Under Article 111 of Iran's constitution, the Assembly of Experts holds the authority to designate a new Supreme Leader. The body is already convened in emergency session, and while no successor has been publicly named as of July 6, the institutional machinery is operating in parallel to the public mourning. The presence of delegations from over 70 countries provides the Islamic Republic with a stage to project continuity and legitimacy at a moment when foreign audiences — and domestic factions alike — are reading every detail for signals.

The procession route's symbolism is not incidental. Azadi Street — "Freedom Street" — and Enqelab Street — "Revolution Street" — are the two arteries most associated with the 1979 revolution's mass demonstrations. Running the cortège through them is a deliberate invocation of foundational legitimacy.

Whatever the Assembly of Experts decides in the coming days, the funeral itself is performing a function: consolidating grief into political continuity, and making visible, for the Iranian public and the watching world, the scale of the state's organizational reach.