Overview
- Iraq received Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s coffin and hosted large processions in Najaf on Wednesday as crowds and clerics led prayers before the body is flown to Karbala and returned to Iran for burial.
- Iran’s state funeral committee has scheduled the burial for Thursday, July 9, at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad.
- Mojtaba Khamenei, named supreme leader in March, has not appeared at public rites and is reported to be in hiding after being wounded in the strike that killed his father.
- Recent reported strikes on tankers in and near the Strait of Hormuz prompted U.S. military responses and the revocation of a U.S. general license for some Iranian oil sales, and negotiators have paused indirect U.S.‑Iran talks until the burial.
- Iran invited hundreds of foreign influencers and hosted international delegations while Iraqi authorities deployed paramilitary and security forces to manage millions of mourners, a show that underlines closer Iran‑Iraq religious ties and raises short‑term risks of regional escalation.