Tehran mayor says state funeral for Khamenei to be delayed several weeks

The mayor of Tehran says that the state funeral of late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, killed by US-Israeli strikes on the first day of the Middle East war, will be postponed until the end of June or early July.

Iran had earlier said it planned to hold the three-day event in early Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, which would have put in early June.

But Mayor Alireza Zakani, in a statement carried by the Fars news agency, says the ceremony has been postponed until after the first 10 days of Muharram to allow the faithful to complete their annual mourning of the Imam Hussein, the revered early Shia leader who was slain at the battle of Karbala in 680 CE.

This would mean Khamenei’s funeral would take place in the second 10 days of Muharram, between June 26 and July 5. Tehran officials have previously said they expect 20 million people to attend.