A week-long funeral. Khamenei’s funeral procession under way in Tehran
Iranian authorities estimate that at least 15 million people will attend the ceremony. It will be the largest state funeral in the country's history.
Representatives from over 70 countries, including Russia, China, Turkey, Pakistan, and Georgia, arrived in Tehran.
On previous days,Khamenei's coffin was displayed in the Grand Imam Khomeini Mosque in Tehran under glass, alongside the coffins of his daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, and 14-month-old granddaughter.
All were killed on the first day of the war with the US and Israel, on February 28, as a result of the bombing of the Supreme Leader's office, where a meeting of top politicians and military commanders was taking place.
Mourners carried Iranian flags and portraits of Khamenei and his son and successor, Mojtaba, who was wounded in the attack. Mojtaba has not yet appeared publicly, has not spoken, and it is still unclear whether he will attend the funeral.
The crowd wailed and chanted anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans.
On Monday, July 6, the funeral procession will pass through central Tehran, likely toward Revolution Square.
A memorial ceremony will be held on Tuesday in Qom, a city that is an important religious center in central Iran.
On Wednesday, the bodies are to be flown to Iraq, to Najaf and Karbala, where the mausoleums of Imam Ali and Imam Hussein, sacred to Shiite Muslims, are located.
On Thursday, they will return to Iran, to Mashhad, Khamenei's hometown. A burial will be held there at the Imam Reza Mausoleum.
Iranian Foreign Minister Sayed Abbas Araghchi announced that representatives from over seventy countries attended the funeral. Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, organizations supported by Tehran, also sent delegations.
Peace Talks Suspended
Peace talks between the US and Iran have been suspended during the funeral. They are scheduled to resume after July 9th if the ceasefire holds.
In an interview with Axios, US president Donald Trump said that neither side would shoot the other during this time.
"They are all there," Trump said of the top Iranian officials attending the ceremony. "One shot and we could finish them all off, but we won't do that because then we would have no one to negotiate with."
Trump said he was surprised to see Iranians crying because he believed the people hated the slain leader. He added: "Maybe they're fake tears."
Uncertainty in the Strait of Hormuz
Not many are brave enough to sail—at least officially. Only 22 ships were scheduled to sail through the route approved in the peace agreement on Friday and Saturday. Before the outbreak of the war in Iran, 130-140 vessels carrying oil or gas traversed this route each day.
Shipping companies lack confidence in the Iranian authorities, which is why they sometimes sail through the Strait with their radars turned off. Therefore, the data indicating 22 ships may be incomplete.
Most still have security concerns. Furthermore, ships that choose to take this risk are still harassed by Iranian forces, writes the Financial Times, citing intelligence data. Last weekend, at least eight ships turned back while sailing through the Omani route. No official reason was given.
There are still concerns that parts of the Strait are mined.
As the FT writes, the willingness of importers to take risks is crucial for the normalization of the oil market, which is still recovering from a historic four-month crisis.