Funeral for Iran’s late supreme leader postponed until later

Iran announced on Thursday that a state funeral for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, originally planned for Wednesday evening in Tehran, has been postponed “in anticipation of unprecedented turnout", state television reported.

“The farewell ceremony for the martyred Imam has been postponed. The new date will be announced later,” Iranian television reported on Wednesday, following Khamenei’s death at the age of 86 in US-Israeli strikes over the weekend.

Earlier on Wednesday morning, authorities had said a tribute would take place that evening in Tehran before Khamenei’s body was to be buried in the holy city of Mashhad, his place of origin.

Strikes have battered Tehran since Saturday, with missiles targeting military and government infrastructure.

Authorities did not directly link the postponement to the security situation.

Mohsen Mahmoudi, head of Tehran’s Islamic Development Coordination Council, the body organising the event, told state TV that the delay was partly due to “the expected participation of millions of people and the need to provide the proper infrastructure” for such a crowd.