Iran has postponed a planned farewell ceremony in Tehran for its late supreme leader, Ayatollah [name], who was slain on Saturday in U.S.-Israeli strikes as part of Operation Epic Fury.
The three-day event was set to commence at 10 p.m. local time on Wednesday at Imam Khomeini Prayer Hall, where substantial crowds were anticipated to assemble to offer their tributes, as reported by Tasnim, a semi-official Iranian news agency.
Hojjatoleslam Seyed Mohsen Mahmoudi, the head of [Province], stated that the postponement came about due to widespread requests to take part and the requirement to furnish sufficient infrastructure and amenities to host attendees.
He stated, “It was determined to hold the ceremony at a more suitable time.”
No further reason for the postponement was provided, and it was not immediately evident when the ceremony would be rescheduled.
Israeli Minister Israel Katz cautioned the Iranian leadership in a post on X that any successor who attempts to ‘annihilate Israel, threaten the United States, the free world, and the countries in the region, and repress the Iranian people’ will be an ‘unambiguous target for elimination.’
Katz stated, ‘It matters not what his name is or where he conceals himself.’
The funeral of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, attracted huge crowds in the nation’s capital on June 11, 1989, with an estimated 10.2 million people present, approximately one-sixth of the country’s population at that time.
According to [source], it drew the highest proportion of the population ever noted at a funeral.
Khamenei’s passing initiates a process overseen by Iran’s Assembly of Experts, the clerical body tasked with appointing the supreme leader.
Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran, stated to [media outlet] Digital, ‘The IRGC is a crucial participant in this process and will significantly shape its result.’