Funeral for slain Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei set for July, as a deal to end the war nears

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Iran's state-run news agency said Saturday funeral processions for its former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would be held in July, as mediators say an agreement to end the war is close.

The funeral, burial, and farewell ceremonies for Khamenei would take place between July 4 and 9, Iran’s state-run television, IRIB, reported.

Khamenei was killed in the opening salvo of the war that Israel and the United States launched against Iran in late February. He has since been replaced by his son, Mojtaba, who is seen as even less compromising.

Pakistani leader says a deal to end the war is imminent

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Saturday that a deal aimed at ending the war in the Middle East is closer than “ever before” and expected to be finalized within 24 hours. Pakistan is preparing for the electronic signing of the agreement, followed immediately by technical-level talks next week.

In a post on X, Sharif said: “We would like to thank United States of America and Islamic Republic of Iran for their ongoing commitment during the negotiations, and we extend our sincere appreciation to our brothers in the region for their support”.

The apparent breakthrough in negotiations comes after Iran exchanged fire with the U.S. and Israel over three days this week, threatening to push the Middle East into full-scale war.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday an agreement “has never been closer” in a post on X. U.S. President Donald Trump, who has said multiple times in recent weeks the countries are on the cusp of a deal, shared Araghchi’s post on his own social media.

The war launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28 has rattled the Middle East and virtually shut down oil and natural gas shipments from the Persian Gulf. A fragile ceasefire has been in place since April 7.

Three regional officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations. They said they expect a signing ceremony for the agreement in the coming days after officials in Washington and Tehran approve it.

Trump on Thursday claimed significant progress in the negotiations, just hours after he threatened to escalate attacks and seize Iran’s oil industry.

Khamenei to be buried at the holiest of Shiite shrines

Funeral ceremonies for Khamenei are expected to begin in Tehran, and the procession will move to Qom, a stronghold of many senior Shiite clerics, and then to Mashhad, his birthplace, where he’ll be buried at the Imam Reza Shrine, considered the holiest place among Shiite devotees.

Funerals for Khamenei's daughter and son-in-law, killed in the February strike, will also be held on the same day.

Khamenei dramatically remolded the Islamic Republic since he took the reins after the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989. Khomeini was the fiery, charismatic ideologue who led the overthrow of the shah and installed rule by Shiite Muslim clerics tasked with spreading religious purity.

He ended up ruling far longer than Khomeini. He greatly expanded the Shiite clerical class and built the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard into the most important body underpinning his rule. The Guard became a military and business behemoth, the country’s most elite force and head of its ballistic missile arsenal, with hands across Iran’s economic sectors.

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Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price and Aamer Madhani in Washington and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia contributed to this report.