Slain Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei Headed For Burial

According to Ireporter Online, the late Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is scheduled to be buried in his hometown of Mashhad. Reports indicate that Khamenei, who ruled Iran for 36 years, was killed on Saturday at the age of 86 amid a series of attacks attributed to the United States and Israeli military forces.

Khamenei hailed from Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city, where his father is also interred at the Imam Reza shrine. Ahead of the burial, the Revolutionary Guards announced that a large farewell ceremony will be held in Tehran, although the exact date of the burial has not yet been disclosed.

In the wake of Khamenei’s death, authority has been temporarily vested in a three-member interim council, comprising the president, the head of the judiciary, and a jurist from the Guardian Council, until the Assembly of Experts selects his successor. Citing security concerns, officials have indicated that the Assembly’s final meeting to confirm the new leader may be delayed until after the burial.

Meanwhile, the United States government has denied involvement in Khamenei’s killing. Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee, senior Pentagon official Elbridge Colby clarified that the operation was carried out by Israel and was not connected to any U.S. military mission. He further emphasized that Washington is not pursuing a regime change in Iran and that the action was solely an Israeli operation.