Iranian officials ‘too afraid’ to hold funeral for assassinated Ali Khamenei

Ali Khamenei, 86, was assassinated in a joint US-Israeli airstrike on February 28 that launched the Iran war, but his remains are yet to be buried weeks later

Reports are indicating that Iranian officials are ‘afraid to bury’ the deceased Supreme Leader months after his death.

Ali Khamenei, 86, was killed in a combined US-Israeli air strike on February 28 that triggered the Iran conflict with the US – with his son

The remains of the cleric still lie unburied, departing from established custom, the New York Post reports.

Now, one security expert claims the postponement is because Tehran is too frightened to proceed with the ceremony.

The final state funeral for his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1989 witnessed millions of Iranians pouring onto the streets of Tehran in grief – but comparable scenes for Khamenei were notably missing during weeks of air strikes across Iran that eliminated many of the regime’s senior figures.

According to reports, a ceremony would risk potential Israeli air strikes, nationalist counter-demonstrations similar to the nationwide protests earlier this year, and the regime’s need to explain the absence of Mojtaba Khamenei, Khamenei’s son and the new supreme leader who has not appeared publicly since his appointment.

“It speaks volumes that the turnout for the funeral of the regime’s founding father in 1989 was such a massive affair, and yet one generation later his successor is still not able to have a funeral well over a month after his passing,” Taleblu continued.

“The Islamic Republic likes to talk a big game about owning the streets, but a 50-day internet blackout tells you all you need to know. The regime fears the consequences of the truth getting out.”

Now, Iranian authorities are mulling over the remote, northeastern city of Mashhad as a possible burial location, according to state media Fars, The Australian reported.

Mashhad, which borders Turkmenistan and lies far from Israel, is Khamenei’s birthplace and offers both practical and symbolic advantages.

One proposal being considered would see Khamenei interred close to the shrine which maintains a substantial security presence that would enable protection of the long-serving leader’s tomb, according to reports.

The Islamic Republic originally planned a three-day state funeral commencing on March 4, but it never came to fruition after the nation was hit by extensive Israeli and US bombing operations, according to state news agency Irna.

No dates have been established for Khamenei’s burial ceremony.

The US and Iran agreed a temporary ceasefire on April 8, which is due to lapse on Wednesday.