Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to be laid to rest in Mashhad today

Khamenei will be buried at the shrine of Imam Ali Raza, the eighth Shia imam, in his birthplace of Mashhad, after millions of mourners attended farewell ceremonies in the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala. Mashhad, in northeastern Iran, holds deep religious significance for Shia Muslims as the home to the country's holiest shrine.

The state funeral ran from July 3 to 9, with processions held in Tehran and Qom before the body was transferred to Iraq and finally returned to Iran for burial.

Iranian authorities shut down businesses, the Tehran Grand Bazaar, and parts of daily life across the country during the mourning period, while as many as 30 million people were expected to take part over the course of the funeral.

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Khamenei was killed on February 28 in a joint US-Israeli strike, and his burial falls on the eve of the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Ali al-Sajjad according to the Islamic calendar.

Former Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki said attending the funeral and honouring Khamenei's legacy was "a duty" for the Iraqi people.

Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has not appeared publicly since his father's killing, though Iranian media has shown images of him walking among crowds at the Tehran procession.

Analysts have noted the scale of this funeral far exceeds that of Khamenei's predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, whose 1989 ceremonies lasted only two days and stayed within Iran.