Iran buries Khamenei in Mashhad amid US-Iran escalations

Iran buried its slain Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the northeastern city of Mashhad on Thursday, July 9, concluding a week-long funeral procession that unfolded amid a sharp escalation of military hostilities with the United States. The burial at the Imam Reza shrine, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, was delayed by several hours due to what Iranian state media described as overwhelming crowds of mourners. Khamenei, who ruled Iran for nearly four decades, was killed on February 28 in what Iranian media described as a coordinated U.S.-Israeli airstrike on Tehran, an event that triggered the ongoing conflict.

The solemn ceremony, intended as a moment of national unity, was overshadowed by a decisive collapse of a 60-day ceasefire that had been in place since mid-June. The United States conducted major airstrikes over two consecutive nights, targeting what U.S. officials said were Iranian military sites, including air defense systems, coastal surveillance assets, and missile storage facilities. U.S. forces struck more than 170 targets in total, with some reported deep inside Iran for the first time since the ceasefire began. Iranian media reported that railway...