Iran prepared Friday for the dayslong funeral of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with banners across Tehran urging the general public to stand up in support of the Islamic Republic after the devastating war that killed the 86-year-old cleric.
The country’s theocracy plans to see thousands and thousands flood the streets of the capital starting Saturday in scenes reminiscent to the burial of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989.
That would provide a lift for Iran’s government, particularly because it tries to leverage its hold on the Strait of Hormuz in negotiations with america over a everlasting end to the war, and as concern still lingers that Israel could attack yet again.
Despite that, a strong general who leads Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard emerged publicly for the primary time in months for the funeral. Other top government officials will even likely will probably be readily available alongside foreign dignitaries in a show of strength of Iran.
“So long as these people, who’re chosen (by God), are on the sector, we will certainly proceed the identical ‘no to humiliation’ policy that was founded by the Islamic Republic,” said Mohammad Hossein Rezaei, a volunteer preparing for the funeral Friday.
“We’ll proceed our policy of pursuing independence, and decisions will probably be made contained in the country, and the people will resolve their very own fate,” he said.
Caskets displayed in Tehran
Khamenei’s flag-draped coffin sat at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla alongside relations killed within the Israeli airstrike that got here in the primary moments of the war on Feb. 28.
Get breaking National news
Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox because it happens so you will not miss a trending story.
The dead being honored include a son-in-law, his eldest daughter, a 14-month-old granddaughter and the wife of Iran’s recent Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the previous leader who stays in hiding after reportedly being wounded within the attack.
Religious leaders and foreign dignitaries walked as much as Khamenei’s casket as a military band played or a person sang prayers. Iran’s Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and President Masoud Pezeshkian, key leaders within the country’s civilian government, all paid their respects.
Video published by Iranian state media showed an earlier mourning ceremony Thursday night for Khamenei. The black-clad mourners, whom state media identified as coming from families of those that lost family members within the 12-day war in 2025 and the recent Iran war, threw scarves and other items for attendants to brush against the coffin, a typical practice in Iran seen as a blessing.
Later, state media showed images of Khamenei’s casket draped by a red flag with white calligraphy reading “Ya Hussein,” a Shiite expression in remembrance of the Seventh-century martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson. It had been flying over the Imam Hussein golden-domed shrine in Karbala, Iraq. The flag also traditionally symbolizes each the spilled blood of somebody unjustly killed and a call for vengeance.
Top general appears for first time in months
Photos published online by Iranian state media showed Gen. Ahmad Vahidi attending a gathering Thursday concerning the funeral of Khamenei, then sitting alongside his casket as Iran’s theocracy held a smaller service for him Thursday night near the supreme leader’s former home in downtown Tehran.
“They have to know that the pure blood of our martyred imam will mark one other turning point within the victories of beloved Islam across the worldwide arena,” Vahidi told state television in comments aired Friday. “They’ll take to their graves the want to see this nation give up. This nation will rise higher daily through this pure blood.”
Vahidi has turn into a significant player in formulating Iran’s tough stance in negotiating a possible everlasting end to the war with america, experts say. He had not been seen publicly since Feb. 8, weeks before the Iran war began. Israel killed top leaders in Iran’s military and government in the course of the war, and has threatened the lifetime of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei as well. Vahidi is believed to be a part of a small clique in direct contact with the younger Khamenei.
It stays unclear whether Khamenei will appear at his father’s funeral. His father appeared in 1989 at Khomeini’s funeral, weeping visibly, as he began his journey to steer Iran for many years with an iron fist while confronting the West.
Israel’s repeated threats to kill Khamenei drew a warning from Iran’s joint military command Thursday.
“We warn the enemies of a powerful Iran, especially america, the Israeli regime and their regional and extraregional accomplices, to avoid any miscalculation and to think about the cruel and regret-inducing responses that the sons of the Iranian nation within the armed forces will give to any threat or aggression against our beloved country,” the military command said.
Funeral to go on for days
Starting Saturday, Iran will hold the dayslong funeral for Khamenei and his body will probably be transported to cities in each Iran and neighboring Iraq. Authorities plan to shut down streets, airspace and day by day life in Tehran as mourners commemorate the lifetime of Khamenei.
In Tehran, images of the late Khamenei’s fist may very well be seen in banners and in an enormous statue in Tehran’s Enghelab Square, framed by what gave the impression to be ballistic missiles flying through the air. In his first message to the nation, read by a state television anchor, Mojtaba Khamenei said he saw his father’s body after his death with raised, clenched fist.
The banners read in Arabic, English and Farsi: “We must rise.”
“This fist is the clenched fist of all us Muslims,” taxi driver Jafar Javadi said. “The leader’s fist is an indication all our fists are clenched they usually (the enemies) will probably be destroyed with these fists, God willing. We’ll proceed chanting death to America and death to Israel with the identical clenched fist.”
—Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press author Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
© 2026 The Canadian Press