Iran prepares for dayslong funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Iran is preparing for a dayslong funeral for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as Revolutionary Guard General Ahmad Vahidi made his first public appearance in months. State media showed funeral preparations in Tehran ahead of ceremonies planned across Iran and neighbouring Iraq
Dubai: A powerful general who leads Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard emerged from hiding as Tehran prepared on Friday for the dayslong funeral of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Photos published online by Iranian state media showed Gen Ahmad Vahidi attending a meeting on Khamenei’s funeral before sitting beside his casket as Iran’s theocracy held a smaller service for him on Thursday night near the Supreme Leader’s former home in downtown Tehran.
Vahidi has become a major player in shaping Iran’s tough stance in negotiations on a possible permanent end to the war with the United States, experts said.
He is believed to be part of a small group in direct contact with Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who remains in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the February 28 Israeli strikes that killed his father, the elder Khamenei.
Vahidi himself has not been seen publicly since February 8, weeks before the Iran war began.
Video published by Iranian state media showed the mourning ceremony for Khamenei near the husseiniyah at his compound in Tehran.
An Israeli airstrike in the opening moments of the war on February 28 killed Khamenei and some of his family members. State media said Khamenei’s body lay in a coffin placed on a stage, with red tulips arranged in front of it. What appeared to be paper butterflies hung from the ceiling above it.
The black-clad mourners, whom state media identified as family members of those who lost loved ones in the 12-day war in 2025 and the recent Iran war, threw scarves and other items for attendants to brush against the coffin, a common practice in Iran.
Beginning Saturday, Iran will hold a dayslong funeral for Khamenei, and his body will be transported to cities in Iran and neighbouring Iraq.
The funeral will begin at the Grand Mosalla in Tehran, where authorities plan to shut down streets and disrupt daily life as mourners commemorate Khamenei, who led Iran for decades while confronting the West.
