Iranian officials have outlined a multi-city funeral sequence for former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, with ceremonies expected in Tehran, Qom and Mashhad before burial at the Imam Reza Shrine. The reports supplied for this draft describe the plan as still being organized, which means timing and crowd-control details may yet change.
Shafaq reported that a local official said the body would be taken through the three cities and that planners in the capital were preparing for a crowd measured in the tens of millions. The figure mentioned in that report was 15 million to 20 million mourners in Tehran alone. Iran International, citing a Tehran municipal official, separately said the main procession was likely to fall near the end of Khordad, the current Iranian calendar month, which ends on June 21.
The two reports overlap on the broad structure even though each adds different operational details. Iran International said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps would oversee organization of the funeral and that officials had allocated three days for the public farewell. It also said the Tehran portion would last at least 24 hours and that planners were discussing whether they needed more time to prepare the event properly.
Both reports also connect the burial destination to Khamenei's stated wishes. According to the supplied material, the sequence concludes in Mashhad at the shrine of Imam Reza, one of Shiite Islam's most important religious sites. That choice gives the event obvious ceremonial significance beyond the immediate political moment.
The sources further say Khamenei was killed on February 28, 2026, during a joint U.S.-Israeli strike on his compound in Tehran and that funeral preparations were delayed by security concerns and continuing hostilities. Those points are attributed in the evidence to Iranian or state-linked reporting and are not independently confirmed here. They remain important context because they help explain why officials are emphasizing logistics, timing and security rather than publishing a final program immediately.
What can be stated with confidence from the supplied evidence is comparatively narrow. Iranian officials are planning a funeral route through Tehran, Qom and Mashhad; burial is expected at Imam Reza Shrine; the authorities anticipate extremely large crowds; and the Revolutionary Guards are said to be managing arrangements. Beyond that, much remains provisional.
That uncertainty is part of the story. A state funeral of this scale is being assembled in a tense environment, and the available reports suggest the authorities are trying to balance public mourning, symbolic geography and strict operational control at the same time.
