More than three months after Iran's former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli airstrike, officials have for the first time commented publicly on plans for his burial.
The funeral is scheduled to take place at the start of the Islamic month of mourning, Muharram, Iranian media quoted the deputy mayor of Tehran, Amin Tavakolizadeh, as saying on Tuesday. Based on the lunar calendar, the ceremony could therefore take place in mid-June.
Official funeral ceremonies are reportedly to be held in the Iranian capital Tehran, the pilgrimage city of Qom and Khamenei's hometown of Mashhad.
The former supreme leader is to be buried in Mashhad's religious centre, the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad. In Tehran, authorities are preparing for gatherings of up to 20 million people.
Khamenei was killed in a strike on his official residence in Tehran on February 28 during the opening salvoes of the US-Israeli war. He was succeeded by his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since his appointment in early March. He is believed to be severely injured.
Initially, no large-scale funeral ceremonies were planned for the former supreme leader, partly for security reasons.
A ceasefire has been in place in the conflict since early April. Negotiations to resolve the conflict have so far not produced a breakthrough.
