TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A ceremony commemorating Iran’s late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tehran has been postponed, according to Al Jazeera, which cited Iran’s Tasnim news agency.
The delay comes days after Khamenei was assassinated along with several family members in joint airstrikes by Israel and the United States.
Tasnim quoted an official as saying logistical issues led to the postponement, including requests from people across multiple provinces seeking to travel to Tehran to attend the ceremony. Authorities are preparing for what is expected to be an exceptionally large turnout.
A new date for the funeral rites has not yet been announced.
The report followed an earlier announcement by Hojjatoleslam Mahmoudi, head of Iran’s Islamic Propagation Council, who said the farewell ceremony would begin at 10:00 PM local time (18:30 GMT) at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Prayer Hall and continue for three days.
“The prayer hall will be receiving visitors and the dear people can attend and take part in the farewell ceremony and mark a strong presence once again,” Mahmoudi said in comments carried by Iranian media.
However, with expectations of massive crowds and heightened security concerns amid ongoing regional hostilities, officials opted to delay the gathering.
Khamenei, who was 86, had served as Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, succeeding Khomeini. As the country’s highest authority, he held ultimate control over all branches of government, the armed forces and the judiciary, while also acting as Iran’s top religious figure.
Attention has now turned to the selection of his successor. Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, a senior cleric and member of both the Guardian Council and the Assembly of Experts, indicated that the process is nearing completion despite the wartime environment.
“The Supreme Leader will be identified in the closest opportunity, we are close to a conclusion, however the situation in the country is a war situation,” Khatami told state TV.
Regional tensions further escalated after Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that any Iranian leader chosen to replace Khamenei could be targeted.
“Any leader selected by the Iranian terror regime to continue leading the plan for Israel’s destruction, threatening the United States, the free world and countries in the region, and suppressing the Iranian people, will be a certain target for assassination, no matter his name or where he hides,” Katz said in a post on X.
In Washington, Donald Trump also weighed in on Iran’s leadership future. Speaking at the Oval Office on Tuesday, he suggested the “worst-case scenario” would be the emergence of another leader hostile to US interests.
Despite the escalating rhetoric, some analysts say Iran’s political system is built to withstand such shocks. Luciano Zaccara, a research associate professor in Gulf politics at Qatar University, told Al Jazeera that Tehran had long prepared for the possibility of Khamenei’s assassination.
“The structures remain, the line of power [and] the line of command remain in place,” he said.
Read: Prabowo Offers Condolences on Death of Iran's Ali Khamenei
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