Funeral for Iran's slain supreme leader set for next month amid ceasefire talks

Iran will hold a state funeral next month for Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the former supreme leader killed in a US-Israeli airstrike on the first day of the war.

Iranian state media, including IRNA, reported Friday that authorities scheduled the funeral for July 4 and July 5 at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla, a grand mosque in the capital Tehran.

A funeral procession through Tehran is planned for July 6, followed by another the next day in Qom, a holy city sacred to Shia Muslims.

The final burial ceremony will take place July 9 in Mashhad, Khamenei's hometown and an Islamic holy city. He will be interred at the shrine of Imam Reza, venerated by Shia Muslims.

Khamenei was killed along with family members on Feb. 28 when US and Israeli forces bombed his residence in Tehran on the opening day of the war. Following his death, his son Mojtaba Khamenei was elected as the new supreme leader.

The funeral schedule was announced amid signs that a ceasefire memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran may be imminent. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Friday that a ceasefire agreement between the two countries would be signed within 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the more than three-month delay in holding Khamenei's funeral has fueled widespread speculation. Some observers have attributed the delay to security concerns over a possible assassination of his son Mojtaba, while others have suggested that Khamenei's remains were so severely damaged that recovering them took considerable time.