Khamenei's Funeral Draws Global Delegations and Millions of Mourners. Iran International Reports Businesses Were Forced to Close and Workers Ordered to Attend.

Since Khamenei's death on February 28 during the opening hours of the U.S.-Israeli strike campaign, Iranian authorities attributed the four-month delay in his burial to wartime conditions and security concerns, according to Iran International. The burial is now scheduled for July 9 in Mashhad, following five days of ceremonies across Iran and Iraq.

Who Showed Up

The coffin arrived at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla in Tehran on Friday. President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were among the Iranian officials seen paying respects, according to reporting aggregated by ZeroHedge citing The Cradle.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was filmed reciting a prayer in front of Khamenei's coffin. Delegations representing Hezbollah, the Amal Movement, and the Iraqi resistance faction Kataib Hezbollah also attended. Iran had explicitly declined to invite European governments.

The diplomatic surprise of the week: Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed El Khereiji arrived in Tehran with a delegation, despite Saudi Arabia not appearing on Iran's official guest list, according to Reuters. Oman and Qatar had been on that list. El Khereiji's unannounced presence signals at minimum a calculation in Riyadh that the moment warranted quiet outreach, at a time when ceasefire talks are ongoing in Qatar and Switzerland.

Iranian authorities estimated more than 10 million mourners in Tehran alone, with additional millions expected in Mashhad and Qom. Separate large-scale ceremonies were coordinated with Iraqi authorities in Baghdad, according to ZeroHedge.

The Security Picture

Airspace restrictions and mass deployments of security forces began days before the ceremonies and extended through the weekend, according to ZeroHedge. Ali Abdollahi, commander of Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, issued a public statement carried by Iranian state media warning the United States and Israel to "avoid any miscalculation" and promising "harsh retaliation" for any aggression.

Former Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, who had been in hiding for five months, resurfaced publicly in Tehran as the funeral opened, as reported in earlier coverage this week.

The Pressure Campaign Behind the Numbers

Iran International gathered dozens of firsthand accounts from Iranian citizens describing a coordinated government campaign to manufacture attendance.

A Tehran real estate agent wrote that the local union sent a text message forbidding offices from opening and requiring staff to attend ceremonies. A separate message described Basij members visiting shops near one family's business and warning that any store open during the mourning period would be sealed. A gym owner wrote that fitness centers had been ordered closed from Saturday through Wednesday. Tehran's Grand Bazaar was ordered shut until Thursday, adding economic strain on businesses already under sanctions pressure.

Public-sector workers described mandatory participation. One Tehran municipality employee said all leave was canceled and staff across city agencies were ordered to attend. An audio recording attributed to the human resources director of Tehran Municipality's District 10 reportedly instructed all employees, including those with young children and serious medical conditions, to show up. The Hamshahri newspaper group reportedly required management to produce 200 employees for the ceremonies.

Automaker Saipa canceled overtime and prepared facilities to house roughly 2,000 visitors from Iraq attending the funeral, according to one employee's account reported by Iran International.

Counterpoint

State funerals routinely involve large-scale civic mobilization in many countries, and Khamenei genuinely commanded deep loyalty among significant portions of the Iranian population. Millions of Iranians who lost family members or associates in recent fighting may have attended out of grief or conviction. The accounts collected by Iran International are self-selected and cannot be independently verified. Iranian authorities have not publicly responded to the forced-attendance allegations.

What Iran's Leadership Faces Next

The IBTimes framed the funeral primarily as a display of national unity and resilience, emphasizing Araghchi's diplomatic posture and the government's messaging of continuity. That framing omits the coercion accounts and the fundamental unresolved question of the succession process, making its coverage noticeably thinner than the Iran International reporting.

Pezeshkian, Araghchi, and Ghalibaf are expected to lead Iran's next policy chapter, but none holds the constitutional authority of a supreme leader. Iran's Assembly of Experts is responsible for selecting a new supreme leader. As of July 4, 2026, no successor has been publicly named and no formal announcement on the timeline for that selection has been made, leaving the most consequential political question in Iran's post-war landscape genuinely open.