TEHRAN – The farewell and funeral ceremonies for the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and his family will be extensively covered by both domestic and foreign media outlets, the spokesperson for the Farewell, Funeral, and Burial Headquarters for the Martyr leader said. 

“14,000 journalists, photographers, and documentarians have registered in the media registration system to cover the ‘Mr. Martyr of Iran’ event, and final processing for the issuance of their credentials is currently underway,” Iman Attarzadeh announced.

“Furthermore, more than 900 foreign journalists will be present at the event, including 300 journalists from media outlets based abroad, 350 foreign journalists residing in Iran, and approximately 300 foreign influencers and bloggers,” Honaronline reported him as saying.

“This number of journalists, photographers, and media professionals covering a single event in the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran is an unprecedented and unique figure that has no parallel,” he added.

“Moreover, senior officials from around 40 countries will attend the farewell and funeral ceremonies, alongside a public gathering of religious, political, academic, and cultural figures in Tehran,” he noted.

Attarzadeh noted that the body of the Martyr Leader and members of his family have been preserved with the utmost respect and in full compliance with religious and legal standards, and that no burial or interment has taken place so far.

Attarzadeh further said that detailed and coordinated arrangements have been made for the farewell ceremony at the Tehran Prayer Grounds (Mosalla).

“From 6 am on Saturday, July 4, until the end of the ceremony, the venue will remain open 24 hours a day for mourners and will not be closed,” he explained.

He added that a variety of programs, including Quran recitation, elegy reading, poetry, and mourning rituals, have been planned.

“Given the anticipated large turnout from across the country as well as foreign guests, attendees have been requested to leave the prayer grounds within 10 to 15 minutes after entering and paying their respects, in order to allow greater numbers of mourners to participate,” he said.

The spokesperson also stated that the Martyr Leader will once again be honored with a pilgrimage to the holy shrines in Iraq. He said the late Leader’s last visit to Karbala and Najaf dates back to 1957.

He added that on July 8, the body of the martyred Leader will be taken to the holy shrines of Imam Ali (AS), Imam Hussein (AS), and Abbas ibn Ali (AS) in Iraq, marking a long-awaited pilgrimage after 69 years.

SS/SAB