Iran Delays Supreme Leader's Burial Four Months to Stage State Power Display

Ali Khamenei's public funeral began July 4, 2026, more than four months after his death on February 28 — far longer than Islamic practice ordinarily permits. The six-day ceremony, running through July 9 burial in Tehran, Qom, and Mashhad, reflects Iran's deliberate choice to use the succession moment as a choreographed assertion of sovereign continuity and domestic control during a period of visible strain.