Ali Khamenei's Final Journey: Fighter Jet Escorts Coffin Home For Burial

Iran's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei is set to be buried in his hometown of Mashhad on Thursday, bringing to an end six days of funeral ceremonies held across Iran and Iraq.

At least one fighter jet escorted the plane carrying Khamenei's coffin as it arrived in the eastern holy city, according to footage released by the supreme leader's website.

Alongside Khamenei's coffin were those of family members killed in the US-Israeli strikes of February 28, the attack that marked the start of the wider Middle East war. The coffins had travelled from Iraq, where huge crowds gathered for funeral ceremonies in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.

Iranian fighter jets escort the plane carrying Khamenei's casket

A leader who never fled to a bunker pic.twitter.com/CVIDCbO5D2

— The Gulag (@WelcomeTheGulag) July 9, 2026

Their arrival in Mashhad followed five days of mourning across Tehran, the clerical hub of Qom, and the two Iraqi cities. Khamenei is to be buried there this evening, at the Shrine of Imam Reza, Iran's most revered site of worship and the resting place of several former Iranian shahs, as well as former president Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in 2024. Imam Reza is the only one of the twelve Shia imams buried within Iran.

Khamenei will be buried alongside his infant granddaughter, son-in-law, daughter, and Zahra Haddad Adel, the wife of Mojtaba Khamenei, all of whom were killed in the strikes on 28 February.

Large crowds of Iranians loyal to the Islamic Republic massed in Mashhad's streets on Thursday for what will be the last of six days of funeral ceremonies. The burial prayer is to be led by Hossein Noori Hamedani, a 101-year-old ayatollah known as a conservative figure within the republic, according to the official IRNA news agency.

His chief of staff, Mohammad Mohammadi-Golpaygani, had earlier said on state television that Khamenei had personally wished to be buried in his hometown. Buried alongside him will be his infant granddaughter, son-in-law, daughter, and Zahra Haddad Adel, the wife of his son Mojtaba, all of whom died in the February strikes.

Even as burial preparations were underway, the United States and Iran exchanged strikes for the second consecutive day.

Iran said it had resumed attacks targeting US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar. The renewed hostilities, triggered by tensions over the Strait of Hormuz, have raised fears of a return to full-scale war.