Iran Khamenei funeral: Regime expects millions for delayed ceremony

Four months after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes, Iran is preparing for a massive multi-day funeral. It’s a calculated move by the regime to project strength and unity during a shaky peace deal with the U.S.

Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reviled by some and revered by others, is set to be laid to rest after a sprawling multi-day funeral ceremony planned as both a religious and political spectacle.

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Killed alongside members of his family in the opening salvo of U.S. and Israeli attacks on Tehran on Feb. 28, Khamenei’s legacy looms over nearly every element of the Islamic Republic that he controlled with an iron fist for nearly four decades.

It is only the second time that Iran has laid a supreme leader to rest: The 1989 funeral procession of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, was a vast ceremony that drew millions to Tehran, Iran’s capital.