With a tentative truce in the war and the U.S. focused on July Fourth, it seems safe to hold funeral rites for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Millions are expected to attend.
July 4, 2026
People attend an event to pay their respects to the late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at the Grand Mosalla complex in Tehran on Saturday. (Murad Sezer/Reuters)
TEHRAN — For four months, Iran feared it was too dangerous to lay to rest Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader who was killed in an airstrike on the first day of the joint U.S.-Israeli war.
• Security threats: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned against any attempts to target the country in the coming days. President Donald Trump said the US has given Iran “a week off” for the funeral “because we’re nice”, claiming they “want to settle so badly.”
• Assassination warning: Elsewhere, US officials attempted to warn Iran of fears they had that Israel would assassinate Tehran’s parliamentary speaker and foreign minister during talks this spring, two officials said. Iran paused talks ahead of the funeral.
