Authorities in Iran have delayed an official farewell ceremony for the country’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iranian media said after logistical delays and increased security concerns stemming from his assassination in recent air strikes carried out by Israel and the United States.
According to Tasnim news agency, following widespread expressions from people in different provinces that they want to travel to Tehran to attend the ceremony, the officials decided to postpone the event.
Preparations for the funeral are ongoing with hopes for an enormous turnout on the scale of the historic funeral of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989 which spawned millions of mourners. Authorities are also apparently examining potential security risks associated with gatherings of such scale amid just-increasing regional tensions.
Earlier Hojjatoleslam Mahmoudi head of Iran’s Islamic Propagation Council had announced the start for the farewell ceremony including a procession and a three-day funeral for citizens to pay their respects to start at the Imam Khomeini Prayer Hall in Tehran.
Ayatollah Khamenei who heads Iran for over three decades after he succeeded revolutionary leader Khomeini in 1989 was killed at the age of 86.
Meanwhile senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said discussions on choosing a new supreme leader were nearing an end adding the decision was being made in wartime conditions.
Regional tensions are high after the assassination with the Israeli authorities makes strong warnings to Iran’s future leaders and their policies towards the region.
Also read: Iran releases video statement of ‘Mojtaba Ali Khamenei’
