After more than four months since his death, Iran has initiated a series of public mourning and funeral events for the former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The mourning procession will culminate in his burial next Thursday in his hometown of Mashhad, with an anticipated attendance of 12 to 20 million people. Iranian authorities have declared this event as the "funeral of the century." The ceremonies are set to commence on Saturday at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Mosalla and continue for six days, including an official funeral ceremony led by the Mohammad Rasulullah Corps. The ceremonies will then move to Qom, followed by Najaf in Iraq and finally Karbala before returning to Iran. Notable attendees are expected to include Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, with key questions surrounding the attendance of Khamenei's son, Mojtaba, who has been absent from public view since assuming the supreme leadership. The Iraq events are seen as a reflection of Khamenei's influence across the Shia Muslim world and Iran's religious and political ties in the region. The funeral is symbolically important, with the airspace over Tehran partially closing from Friday and traffic restrictions shutting down most of the city centre to private vehicles.