Iran held a major memorial service in Tehran on Thursday to mark the end of the traditional 40-day mourning period for the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on February 28.
State television broadcast images of large crowds assembling in central Tehran to commemorate the influential cleric. The main procession was scheduled to begin at 9:40 a.m. local time (0610 GMT), symbolically matching the moment when Khamenei’s official residence in Tehran was struck at the outset of the conflict.
A separate prayer service is planned for Friday in the capital, though it remains unclear who will lead the ceremony.
Khamenei’s son and designated successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, has not appeared publicly since assuming the position of supreme leader in early March. His absence has fueled speculation about his health, following remarks by U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who claimed on Wednesday that the new leader is “disfigured.”
Details surrounding Khamenei’s burial also remain uncertain. He is expected to be laid to rest in his hometown of Mashhad in northeastern Iran, though no official date has been announced.
The memorial observances come amid heightened regional tensions and uncertainty about Iran’s leadership transition following the sudden death of its most powerful figure.
