Iran says 30 countries will attend Khamenei funeral ceremony

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's National Farewell and Funeral Ceremony Committee said official, religious and public delegations from 30 countries will attend the funeral of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Committee head Major General Ali Akbar Poor Jamshidian told a press conference in Tehran that the official ceremony will be held in the coming days at the direction of the Khamenei family. According to the committee, Khamenei was killed on February 28 in the first US and Israeli strikes on Tehran, and his son Mojtaba Khamenei has been appointed as the new leader. Poor Jamshidian said more than 90 countries have sent condolence letters from religious, academic and sectarian leaders, while Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan have applied to send large popular convoys. A state condolence program for heads of state, senior officials and religious leaders will be held in Tehran on Friday. The funeral procession will last two days in Tehran and one day in Qom, before the remains of Khamenei and family members are transported to Baghdad International Airport on Tuesday, July 7. Ceremonies are scheduled for that evening in Kadhimiya, Wednesday morning in Karbala, and later in Najaf, before the burials are moved to Mashhad for interment near the Imam Reza shrine on Thursday, July 9. Early estimates project 12 to 20 million people will attend the Tehran ceremonies.