Iran's former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in US-Israeli strikes on Tehran late February, will be buried after Ashura, due to take place later this month, funeral organisers said on Tuesday.
Mr Khamenei will be buried “after the first 10 days of Muharram”, the funeral committee said in a statement published on the supreme leader's website, in reference to the Islamic month that begins next week.
The 10th day of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic calendar, is known as Ashura, a key memorial date when the death of the Prophet Mohammed’s grandson, Imam Hussein bin Ali, is mourned.
He was killed in a battle outside the city of Karbala in modern-day Iraq in 680AD by the army of the second Umayyad caliph, Yazid bin Muawiyah. Imam Hussein and his brother Imam Abbas are entombed in gold-domed shrines in Karbala.
Ashura Day is expected to fall on June 25 or 26. The announcement did not give a specific date or time for Mr Khamenei's funeral and burial but “final co-ordination” will take place to provide services to those wishing to attend, the statement read.
Mr Khamenei was killed in a US-Israeli strike at his official residence in Tehran in the opening salvo of the war on February 28. He was replaced as supreme leader by his son Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since and is widely believed to have sustained injuries in the strikes that killed his father.
Iranian officials have already announced plans for a vast funeral procession for the former supreme leader. Tehran's deputy mayor for social and cultural affairs, Mohammad Amin Tavakolizadeh, said earlier this month that authorities were planning three days of “public farewell and funeral ceremonies”, with events scheduled in Tehran, Qom and Mashhad.
The procession in Tehran is expected to last at least 24 hours, Mr Tavakolizadeh added, with preparations under way to host up to 20 million people. He called on neighbouring provinces and districts along the procession route to prepare for large numbers of participants and spectators.
