Democracy Dies with Dictatorship
NY Times
Jul 6, 2026
Iran Live Updates: Hundreds of Thousands Attend Ayatollah’s Funeral Procession
Huge crowds of mourners came to view the casket of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was exalted by some and despised by others. He was killed four months ago at the start of the U.S.-Israeli attacks.
Updated
July 6, 2026, 7:24 a.m. ET57 minutes ago
Aaron Boxerman and Abdi Latif Dahir
Abdi Latif Dahir reported from Tehran, Iran
Here’s the latest.
Hundreds of thousands of mourners amassed in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Monday to commemorate Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader, who ruled his country for decades with an iron fist before he was killed in the war with the United States and Israel.
The ayatollah’s body was carried through the city in a public procession, part of a period of ceremonies and mourning strictly choreographed by the Iranian government. Later this week, it will be taken to several cities in Iran and neighboring Iraq that are significant to Shiite Muslims, before the late ayatollah is buried in his hometown, Mashhad, in northeastern Iran.
Some of the top ranks of Iran’s current and former leadership were among the sea of mourners. In a video shared by Iranian state television, President Masoud Pezeshkian was seen walking down the street, shaking hands with members of the crowd.
Though he was exalted by many Iranians, Ayatollah Khamenei was also despised by others for presiding over an authoritarian state that crushed dissent. In January, Iranian security forces violently suppressed mass antigovernment protests, killing thousands, according to Iranian officials and human rights groups.
For Iran’s leaders, the mass funeral has served in part as a show of national unity. But the late supreme leader’s son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, has been conspicuously absent from the ceremonies.
Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public since succeeding his father, who was killed when Israeli forces bombarded Ayatollah Khamenei’s compound on the first day of the war in late February. His absence from the funeral ceremonies has become a point of scrutiny for Iran’s leadership as they seek to project stability and continuity.
Here’s what else to know:
Attendees: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a former Iranian president, was among the senior officials who attended the funeral ceremonies on Monday. According to U.S. officials, Mr. Ahmadinejad was injured in an Israeli strike in February intended to free him from house arrest. The New York Times later reported on a failed Israeli plan to install Mr. Ahmadinejad at the helm of a postwar Iran.
Peace negotiations: The talks between Iran and the United States have been paused until after the funeral ceremonies. They have failed to prevent new bouts of fighting or to fully reopen shipping in the crucial Strait of Hormuz, let alone bring the two sides closer to resolving myriad thornier issues that were not covered by the countries’ cease-fire.
Our coverage: The New York Times was granted access to the funeral ceremonies of Ayatollah Khamenei by Iran’s government, which determined the ceremonies our reporters could attend, accompanied by a government-provided translator and a guide. The views expressed by people interviewed at these events may not be representative of many Iranians, while others may have felt unable to speak freely.
July 6, 2026, 7:53 a.m. ET29 minutes ago
Reporting from Tehran, Iran
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was considered a “marja” within the Shiite clerical hierarchy, meaning his religious rulings and jurisprudence served as a source of guidance for many Shiite Muslims around the world. Because of that standing, many people traveled from abroad to attend the public mourning ceremonies that have been taking place since the weekend. At today’s procession, we saw mourners from Iraq, Yemen, India and Pakistan — countries with large Shiite populations — as well as from African nations such as Senegal and Nigeria, where Shiite communities are much smaller.
July 6, 2026, 7:46 a.m. ET36 minutes ago
Reporting from Beirut, Lebanon.
Khamenei’s funeral draws mourners from across Iran’s regional network.
From Beirut’s southern suburbs in Lebanon to cities across Pakistan, admirers of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are mourning a leader whose influence extended far beyond Iran — some at gatherings timed to coincide with his funeral, others at a procession through several of the holiest cities in Shiite Islam.
Many supporters saw Ayatollah Khamenei as a religious authority. Others revered him chiefly as the architect of Iran’s confrontation with Israel and the United States. The funeral gatherings across the region offer a map of the constituencies he sought to bind to Iran — and a measure of that reach.
Iraq
The ceremonies began on Saturday in Tehran, the capital of Iran, and will later continue in Qom. Ayatollah Khamenei’s body is then expected to be taken on Wednesday to Najaf and Karbala, the Iraqi shrine cities visited by millions of Shiite pilgrims each year. He is expected to be buried on Thursday in Mashhad, his hometown in northeastern Iran.
By passing through Iraq, the procession will broaden participation and turn an Iranian state funeral into a wider display of the religious and political network that the late ayatollah spent decades cultivating.
Lebanon
Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon, regarded Ayatollah Khamenei not just as Iran’s political leader but also as a religious guide and the paramount authority within the wider Iran-led alliance across the Middle East.
The group has called on supporters to attend gatherings synchronized with the funeral procession. The main event is scheduled for Wednesday evening in the war-scarred southern suburbs of Beirut, the capital, as Ayatollah Khamenei’s body passes through Iraq.
Others, including Hezbollah officials, are making the journey in person. With direct flights between Lebanon and Iran suspended for more than a year, travel agencies have organized routes through Iraq, including packages that take mourners first to Najaf and then to Iran.
Pakistan
Pakistan’s Shiite minority has deep spiritual ties to Iran. Shiite organizers have called for mourning assemblies, public gatherings and prayers across the country, while the prime minister and other senior officials have traveled to Tehran. Pakistani officials have played an important role in mediating recent talks between the United States and Iran.
Afghanistan
Iran has offered about 2,500 free visas to Afghans hoping to attend the funeral ceremonies. Afghanistan is home to a sizable Shiite minority, composed largely of ethnic Hazaras, with longstanding religious and cultural ties to Iran. Representatives of the Taliban government have similarly been invited to Tehran.
Yemen
The Houthis, an Iran-backed militant group that controls much of Yemen, have sent leaders to join the ceremonies, according to Al Masirah, the Houthi-linked broadcaster. The group follows the Zaydi branch of Shiite Islam, which is distinct from the Twelver Shiism that is dominant in Iran, but has become one of Tehran’s closest regional allies.
July 6, 2026, 7:35 a.m. ET51 minutes ago
Abdi Latif Dahir and Michael Anthony Adams
Reporting from Tehran, Iran
It is very hot in Tehran, with temperatures in the 90s. One of the ways authorities are trying to cool the crowds down is by using water cannons manned by security officers. So many people are surging toward the heart of Azadi Square in an effort to see the coffin of the late ayatollah that some have fainted or collapsed. Even members of the Red Crescent at the square have run out of water, and medical workers are appealing to people in the crowd to share any spare bottles they may be carrying with those who have fainted.
July 6, 2026, 7:16 a.m. ET1 hour ago
Abdi Latif Dahir and Michael Anthony Adams
Reporting from Tehran, Iran
The procession passed through sites in Tehran that were struck during the U.S.-Israeli war that began in late February. One heavily damaged location was Sharif University of Technology, one of Iran’s most prestigious academic institutions. A bystander was waving an Iranian flag near the destruction site as participants passed and took photos. Several times, a small crowd assembled and loudly chanted against President Trump and Israel.
The New York Times was granted access to the funeral ceremonies of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by Iran’s government, which determined the ceremonies that reporters could attend, accompanied by a government-provided translator and a guide.
July 6, 2026, 7:05 a.m. ET1 hour ago
Erika Solomon and Sanam Mahoozi
As mourners for Khamenei descend on Tehran, many residents take flight.
As mourners poured into the capital this week to commemorate Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the slain supreme leader of Iran, many Tehran residents headed in the opposite direction.
Instead of partaking in sorrowful chants and funeral processions, they have joined a huge exodus northward to tranquil mountain villages and buzzing beachside resorts.
Their escape from the capital is a reminder that not everyone is mourning the end to Ayatollah Khamenei’s nearly four decades in power — a period marked by fierce repression of dissent, including a bloody crackdown in January on nationwide protests that killed thousands.
For some Iranians leaving the city, defying the orchestrated mass spectacle of Mr. Khamenei’s funeral comes not through counter-protests, but by posting selfies on social media of decadent brunches.
As funeral coverage showcased busloads of mourners arriving from all over the country to camp out in the capital, some Tehranis’ social media pages featured bumper-to-bumper traffic along the highway heading north.
“Everyone wants to run away from this business, and these ridiculous ceremonies,” said Iman, a 38-year old architect from the capital. Like many interviewed about contentious topics in Iran, she requested her full name be withheld for security reasons.
The images and sentiments of Tehran’s wealthy escapees represent just a portion of Iran’s population, many of whom are struggling from Iran’s severe economic crisis and do not have the option to flee the city.
The fault lines between Iranians who support the government and those who want to end authoritarian clerical rule have deepened in the past year.
First there were the nationwide antigovernment protests that were violently crushed, traumatizing swathes of the population. A month later, the United States and Israel launched the war against Iran, killing Ayatollah Khamenei in the opening strikes.
Some Iranians welcomed the war as the only way to end clerical rule, with a few even filming themselves cheering the supreme leader’s death. Those sentiments waned, however, as the U.S.-Israeli strikes failed to topple the government, but killed thousands of civilians and battered Iranian infrastructure and universities.
Deeply disillusioned by the crackdown and the war, opponents of the state have few options for voicing their discontent, especially as the streets have been overtaken almost daily by rallies of hard-line loyalists emboldened by the government’s survival of the war.
What is left, it seems, is to disengage.
The Motel Ghoo, a swanky hotel on the Caspian Sea, posted pictures on social media on Saturday of the tree-lined surrounding streets, brimming with cars and revelers. The comments below the post showed the divisions playing out among Iranians in real time.
“Look how happy they are mourning the supreme leader,” one follower commented, with a laughing and fire emoji.
“Well done,” another commentator wrote. “Go so Tehran becomes less crowded.”
There is no way to accurately gauge how many people have left — or entered — the capital. But several Tehran residents have described their own neighborhoods as empty as on holiday weekends, when locals head north for vacations en masse.
Some wealthier Tehranis who stayed in the capital appeared to have carved out their own bubble, as one of the world’s biggest funerals for their theocratic government unfolded a few miles away.
“Rich Kids of Tehran,” a widely followed Instagram account featuring the flashy lives of Tehran’s wealthiest residents, posted snapshots of cocktails, bikini-clad women lounging at lavish pools, and partyers swarming a D.J.
“How’s your weekend going lovely people?” the poster wrote. “Good vibes, and stay motivated.”
July 6, 2026, 6:47 a.m. ET2 hours ago
Reporting from Tehran, Iran
It took us three hours to cross Azadi Square in the heart of Tehran, where Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s coffin was paraded on a mobile stage truck along with those of his family members who were killed with him in the war. When the crowds saw the vehicle, they went into an absolute frenzy. Mourners threw pieces of cloth onto the truck to be blessed, in the hope that people riding on it would toss them back. It was quite a sight after days of funeral ceremonies in which the ayatollah’s coffin had only been visible from afar.
July 6, 2026, 5:30 a.m. ET3 hours ago
Leo Sands and Sanam Mehoozi
Some of the top ranks of Iran’s current and former leadership were among the sea of mourners at the funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the slain supreme leader, in Tehran on Monday, according to state media. In a video shared by IRIB, the state broadcaster, President Masoud Pezeshkian could be seen walking down the street as he shook hands with some of those in the crowd. One of his predecessors, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was president from 2005 to 2013, was also photographed walking among the mourners. According to U.S. officials, Ahmadinejad was injured in an Israeli strike in February designed to free him from house arrest and install him as Iran’s leader.
July 6, 2026, 5:15 a.m. ET3 hours ago
Reporting from Tehran, Iran
The crowds in the heart of Tehran are endless in all directions as we wait for the procession to begin.
July 6, 2026, 4:44 a.m. ET4 hours ago
Michael Anthony Adams
Reporting from Tehran, Iran
We are driving along the procession route in Tehran, trying to find where the caskets carrying the remains of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his relatives will be meeting the many mourners filling the streets.
July 6, 2026, 4:17 a.m. ET4 hours ago
Reporting from Tehran, Iran
Along the route of the planned procession, the government has put up numerous signs and banners, some depicting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a revered leader whose legacy is tied to that of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. Hussein is said to have died more than 1,300 years ago in what is now modern-day Iraq, and is seen by Shiite Muslims as a symbol of sacrifice in the struggle for justice against tyranny.
By drawing that parallel, the state appears to be portraying the slain supreme leader as a martyr who stood against powerful adversaries such as Israel and the United States.
July 6, 2026, 4:11 a.m. ET4 hours ago
Reporting from Tehran, Iran
In the crowds here in Tehran, there are many signs calling for revenge against President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. Some of the signs and posters link the two men to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, though the aim appears to be less about Epstein himself and more about associating these adversaries with corruption and moral decay.
July 6, 2026, 3:36 a.m. ET5 hours ago
Reporting from Tehran, Iran
The planned route of the funeral procession carries symbolism. By taking the body of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei through some of Tehran’s busiest streets — lined with shops, bookstores, university campuses and cafes — and through the famed Azadi Square, the procession links the history of the Islamic Republic with the everyday pulse of the city. It is about connecting the former supreme leader’s legacy, and that of the state he led, to present-day Tehran.
July 6, 2026, 3:30 a.m. ET5 hours ago
Reporting from Tehran, Iran
The public mourning ceremonies have been highly choreographed and tightly controlled by the government. Monday’s procession will pass through a major route in the heart of Tehran, underscoring the Iranian state’s understanding of the politics of spectacle: how to project power through imagery, command public space and create a sense of scale and impact. The display is intended not only to energize the late ayatollah’s supporters, but also showcase the deep support he has among them.
July 6, 2026, 3:28 a.m. ET5 hours ago
Reporting from Tehran, Iran
Tens of thousands of people are converging in Tehran, the Iranian capital, for the third day of the public funeral ceremonies for Iran’s late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Mourners are arriving to take part in a procession accompanying the former supreme leader’s body, after it lay in state for two days at the Grand Mosalla, a sprawling mosque complex where tens of thousands of people — including senior Iranian officials and some of the ayatollah’s children — gathered to pay their respects and offer prayers on Sunday.