The funeral began 125 days after the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Reports claim that there was a delay due to security reasons and the body was kept in a special way.
125 days have passed since the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. According to reports, the process of his last rites has started from Friday. The event will be held in several cities in Iran and neighboring Iraq. After this, he will be buried in Mashhad on 9th July. Khamenei was claimed to have been killed in an alleged US-Israeli attack on 28 February. Since then, his funeral has been continuously delayed, with security and war-related circumstances being cited as the main reasons.
What was the reason for the delay in the last rites?
According to reports, the funeral could not take place immediately due to the conflict situation between Iran and the US and security challenges. It is reported that the situation became somewhat normal after an interim peace agreement last month, after which the funeral process went ahead. The delay of more than four months in the last rites raised many questions. The biggest question was how the body was kept safe for such a long period.
What did Iran say about the dead body?
Iranian officials did not publicly disclose where Khamenei’s body was kept during these months. However, an official said the body was preserved with full respect and following religious and legal norms. Iman Attarzadeh, a spokesman for the special headquarters for funeral and burial arrangements, said the body was preserved with the utmost care in accordance with Islamic and legal rules, Euro News reported. He also said that the body was neither buried nor kept at any other place as a safe place.
Use of cold storage to preserve dead body?
According to Islamic tradition, it is advisable to bury a person as soon as possible. But due to long delay in this matter, experts have given their opinion on possible methods. According to Fox News, counter-terrorism expert Dr. Omar Mohammed believes the body may have been kept in refrigerated cold storage. He said that chemical embalming is not generally accepted in Islam, so preserving the body in a cold environment may be considered a more likely option.
In Shia tradition, exemption can be given under special circumstances
Experts say Shia religious law allows for a delay in cremation and keeping the body in a cold storage in some exceptional circumstances. According to Dr. Omar Mohammed, it is considered possible to get such religious exemption, especially in the case of a big religious or political leader.
Many family members were also victims of the attack
According to reports, several members of Khamenei’s family were also killed in the attack on February 28. It was reported that the dead also included his young granddaughter, daughter, son-in-law and the wife of his son Mojtaba Khamenei. On Friday, the coffins of Khamenei and other members of his family were placed in the Grand Moselle in Tehran for a final viewing. These included the coffin of his little granddaughter.
Crowd of supporters gathered in Tehran
According to reports, Khamenei’s coffin was brought out in front of thousands of supporters late Thursday night. During this time a large number of people were seen expressing grief. Many supporters were seen paying tribute with religious dirges. Flowers were also showered on people from the coffin, the report said. On Friday, the coffins of other family members were also placed for a last glimpse at the huge shrine built in memory of Iran’s former supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
The new supreme leader did not come in public
According to reports, senior Iranian leaders and officials came to pay tribute during the funeral, but Khamenei’s son and new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei was not seen in public. Some media reports have claimed that he was also seriously injured in the attack in which many members of the family were killed. However, official confirmation in this regard has not come out.