International delegations have begun arriving in Tehran to attend the farewell and funeral ceremonies for martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, with foreign officials and religious figures paying tribute to the late Leader upon their arrival.
As official guests started arriving in the Iranian capital, airport authorities launched reception and ground service operations at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport with full operational and protocol readiness, the Iran Airports and Air Navigation Company announced.
The sacred body of the martyred Leader, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, along with those martyred alongside him, was transferred earlier to the main prayer hall of Tehran's Grand Musalla (prayer hall), where it was placed for public and official farewell ceremonies.
The first group to honor the martyred Iranian Leader included religious scholars and prominent Islamic figures from Indonesia, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iraq, Morocco, and Turkey.
Representatives of Iran's recognized religious minorities also attended the ceremony at the Musalla to pay tribute to the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution.
Meanwhile, official delegations from Turkmenistan, Russia, China, Spain, Ecuador, and Bolivia arrived in Tehran and joined the farewell ceremony, paying their respects to the body of martyred Leader.
Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei was martyred in a joint US-Israeli strike on Tehran on February 28, 2026, at the outset of a 40-day war of aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran. The conflict witnessed steadfast national resistance and large-scale retaliatory operations by the Iranian Armed Forces, which forced the aggressors to halt their military campaign.
The assassination of the Leader drew widespread condemnation from Iran and its allies, while millions of Iranians and supporters of the Axis of Resistance across the region have since mourned his martyrdom.
Following the end of the war, Iranian authorities announced a series of farewell, funeral and burial ceremonies spanning Iran and Iraq to allow the Iranian nation and supporters abroad to pay their final respects to the late Leader.
Preparations for the funeral had begun immediately after Ayatollah Khamenei's martyrdom but were postponed because of wartime conditions and the savage aggression of the American-Zionist enemy, with ensuring public safety taking priority.
The official ceremonies, held under the slogan "We Must Rise" and symbolized by a clenched fist, will begin on July 4, with a two-day farewell ceremony at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Musalla. Funeral prayers and processions will then be held in Tehran, Qom, Najaf, Karbala, and Mashhad, reflecting both the national and international stature of the late Leader.
The main funeral procession in Tehran is scheduled for July 6, followed by ceremonies in the holy city of Qom on July 7. Responding to repeated requests from Iraqi religious scholars, tribal leaders, political figures and the wider public, funeral ceremonies will also be held in the Iraqi holy cities of Najaf and Karbala on July 8, with Iraqi authorities coordinating the details.
A final funeral procession will take place in the holy city of Mashhad on July 9, after which Ayatollah Khamenei will be laid to rest at the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS).
The funeral ceremonies will also commemorate four members of Ayatollah Khamenei's family who were martyred alongside him in the US-Israeli attack: Dr. Mesbah al-Hoda, the Leader's son-in-law; Seyed Boshra Hosseini Khamenei, his daughter; Zahra Haddad Adel, his daughter-in-law; and Zahra Mohammadi Golpayegani, his granddaughter.
The funeral events will be attended by official delegations from numerous countries, along with current and former political leaders, senior government officials, religious scholars, academics, cultural figures and representatives of resistance movements from around the world, underscoring the global significance of Ayatollah Khamenei's legacy and the international tribute to the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution.
