How Iran preserved Ali Khamenei's body for funeral four months after death

Ali Khamenei's funeral: Thousands of faithful take to the streets in Iran
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran killed in an attack by the United States and Israel, will be buried this Thursday (9) in the holy city of Mashhad. For the ceremony, Iranian authorities preserved his body and those of family members who also died in the attack for four months.
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Khamenei died on February 28, on the first day of the war between Iran, the United States and Israel. A daughter, a son-in-law, a daughter-in-law and a 14-month-old granddaughter died in the same bombing.
According to Islamic tradition, the funeral was expected to take place a few days after the death. At the beginning of March, however, Iranian authorities announced the postponement of the ceremony for logistical and security reasons.
The funeral was only officially announced at the beginning of June, almost two months after the start of the ceasefire. The ceremonies began on Saturday (4) and brought together millions of people, according to state media.
Before the tributes began, the spokesman for the organizing committee, Iman Attarzadeh, stated that the bodies had been preserved in accordance with religious norms.
"We announce that the bodies of our martyred imam and his martyred family members, after having received all the necessary respect and care, have been preserved until now in accordance with religious and legal norms", he said.
He did not give details of how the bodies were being preserved.
Islamic tradition prohibits mutilation of bodies after death. Therefore, chemical embalming is prohibited or strongly discouraged.
In an interview with Fox News, Iraqi historian and counterterrorism expert Omar Mohammed stated that it was most likely that Khamenei's body was kept in a cold storage room until burial.
According to Mohammed, Shiite Islamic law allows, in exceptional situations, to postpone burial and preserve the body through refrigeration. He further said that a religious authorization to make this exception in the case of a supreme leader would be relatively easy to obtain.
Image of Ali Khamenei is displayed during a public farewell ceremony at the Imam Khomeini Grand Palace, on July 5, 2026
Majid Asgaripour/WANA via REUTERS
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