By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The funeral of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei will begin in Tehran on July 4, and he will be buried in his home town of Mashhad on July 9, according to state media.
The burial, initially scheduled for March but postponed as the US and Israeli war with Iran dragged on, will follow three days of funeral ceremonies in Tehran from July 4 and another in the holy city of Qom on July 7.
Khamenei, 86, was killed in a joint US-Israeli air strike on his compound in February.
Khamenei led Iran from 1989, following the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who had spearheaded the Islamic revolution a decade earlier.
While Khomeini was the ideological force behind the revolution that ended the rule of the Pahlavi monarchy, Khamenei shaped the military and paramilitary apparatus.
His successor, son Mojtaba Khamenei, has remained out of public view since the US-Israel war began.
Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Mojtaba Khamenei appeared to be taking a more active role as negotiations between the two countries continue following an April 8 truce.
