Qom, July 7, 2026: Thousands of mourners took to the streets of Iran’s holy city of Qom on Tuesday as funeral ceremonies for late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei entered their fourth day.
Khamenei, who was martyred in late February on the first day of the US-Israeli war against Iran, is lying in state at the Jamkaran Mosque in Qom. Aerial footage broadcast by Iranian state television showed streets in the city, home to around 1.5 million people, packed with mourners attending the ceremonies.
A prayer service was held inside the mosque and led by senior cleric Abdollah Javadi-Amoli, while crowds gathered outside chanting slogans, including “death to America”, a refrain often heard at official gatherings in Iran.
State television footage also showed mourners, including clerics, paying their respects at the coffins of Khamenei and four relatives who were martyred alongside him, including a granddaughter reportedly aged 14 months.
Following the prayers, a funeral procession moved through Qom with a truck carrying the bodies towards the mausoleum of Fatima Masooma, sister of Imam Reza and a revered figure in Shia Islam.
The latest ceremony came a day after a massive funeral procession in Tehran, where large crowds turned out in what authorities portrayed as a demonstration of national unity and resilience following the war.
Iranian officials have not yet confirmed whether Mojtaba Khamenei, the late leader’s son and designated successor, will appear at the funeral events. He has not been seen publicly since his appointment in early March, and officials have said he was wounded in the airstrike that killed his father.
Another funeral procession is scheduled to take place in neighbouring Iraq on Wednesday, while the final burial of Khamenei is set for Thursday in his hometown of Mashhad, the northeastern holy city where he was born.
Khamenei led Iran for more than three decades and was 86 at the time of his death.
