The late supreme leader will be buried in his hometown, the eastern holy city of Mashhad. Huge crowds have gathered in the eastern holy city of Mashhad as Iran prepares to bury its slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Observers say this could mark a turning point in how the issue is addressed.

Global Context

Tracing the events that led here provides important context for what follows.

The burial in Khamenei ’ s hometown on Thursday follows a week of mass funeral processions, rallies and mourning ceremonies held across Iran, including a day dedicated to neighbouring Iraq.

There were marathon ceremonies to project strength and unity amid the US-Israel war on Iran, which began with strikes by the two countries on Tehran that killed Khamenei and several of his relatives on February 28.

Further developments have shed additional light on the matter. after massive processions in Iraq ’ s holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, Khamenei ’ s remains arrived on Thursday at Mashhad international airport, footage shared by the official news agency IRNA showed.

International Response

The depth of the response underscores how closely this situation is being watched.

Iraq ’ s paramilitary group Popular Mobilisation Forces ( PMF), or Hashd al-Shaabi, said on Wednesday more than 2.3 million people took part in Khamenei ’ s funeral procession in Najaf alone.

Alongside the primary story, khamenei ’ s remains, along with those of four family members killed alongside him, were also paraded through Tehran and the Shia clerical centre of Qom.

Observers have also noted that the Tasnim developments agency and the broadcaster Press TV reported that millions of mourners attended the funeral procession in Tehran, with Iranian sources describing the event as the “ largest public gathering in the country ’ s modern history ”.

Regional Impact

Policymakers, citizens, and institutions will all need to grapple with what comes next.

“ I swear by the blood of the supreme director, Trump, we will kill you, ” they shouted, with women holding up placards reading “ Kill Trump ”.

In a detail that has not gone unnoticed, the incumbent supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has been notably absent from the processions.

In a detail that has not gone unnoticed, iranian state television reported that Khamenei ’ s burial ceremony in Mashhad would be pushed to 2:30pm local time ( 11:00 GMT) as larger-than-expected crowds had delayed the funeral processions in Iraq.

What has become increasingly clear is that reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera ’ s Resul Serdar Atas noted Iranian leaders had validated that the overnight US attacks on the Tehran-Mashhad railway line, which have put it out of service, had not delayed the burial ceremony.

Adding further dimension to the story, mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, head of the late leader ’ s office, said Khamenei had requested to be buried in Mashhad, near the shrine of Imam Reza, a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.

What Comes Next

What this development ultimately means remains to be seen. But its significance — both in the immediate term and over the longer horizon — is already being felt by those involved and those watching from the outside.