Martyred Leader Ayatollah Khamenei laid to rest in Imam Reza shrine

The body of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution, was laid to rest in the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS) in Mashhad on Thursday, following days of nationwide mourning and unprecedented funeral ceremonies in Iran and Iraq.

The burial took place in the mausoleum's Dar al-Dhikr Rawaq (hallway), after the body was received by a massive crowd from across Iran and dozens of countries around the world upon its arrival in Mashhad on Thursday afternoon. Millions of mourners brought several days of nationwide mourning to their climax in Mashhad, as the final farewell ceremony for the martyred Imam concluded at the holy mausoleum.

Senior officials and political figures attended the ceremony, including Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Judiciary Chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, former vice president Mohammad Mokhber, and Mashhad Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Alamolhoda. The ceremony included the final funeral prayers offered over the body of the martyred Leader, led by his son Ayatollah Seyyed Mostafa Khamenei.

The arrival of the body in Mashhad followed unprecedented funeral ceremonies in Iraq. In Najaf, an estimated 3.8 million mourners gathered around the holy shrine of Imam Ali (AS) for a massive farewell procession before the body was transferred to Karbala along the Arbaeen route. The Iraqi ceremonies came after large-scale farewell gatherings in Tehran and Qom, where millions of Iranians paid tribute to Ayatollah Khamenei before his body was taken to Iraq at the request of Iraqi religious scholars.

Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei was martyred in a joint US-Israeli strike on Tehran on February 28, 2026, at the outset of a 40-day war of aggression against Iran. His martyrdom triggered widespread mourning across the region and the world. According to Mehr News Agency, the burial place of the martyred Leader is in the mausoleum's Dar al-Dhikr Rawaq.