Iran’s slain supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, will be buried in his hometown of Mashhad, according to the Fars News Agency. Khamenei, who led Iran for 36 years, was killed at the age of 86 during a wave of US-Israeli attacks on Saturday.
Born in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city, Khamenei will be laid to rest near the Imam Reza Shrine, where his father is also buried.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that a “large farewell ceremony” will first be held in Tehran, though no specific burial date has been disclosed.
Following his death, governance has been temporarily entrusted to a three-man interim council, comprising the President, the head of the judiciary, and a jurist from the Guardian Council, until the Assembly of Experts selects a successor. Reports indicate that, for security reasons, the assembly’s final meeting may be delayed until after the burial.
Iranian media also reported that buildings housing the Assembly of Experts in Qom, south of Tehran, were struck on Tuesday by US-Israeli military operations, following previous attacks on the body’s main headquarters in Tehran.
