TEHRAN — Iran tightened security and warned the United States and Israel against any attack Thursday as the country prepared for a week of state funeral processions for slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in a U.S.-Israeli airstrike at the outset of the war four months ago.
Ali Abdollahi, commander of Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, cautioned against "any miscalculation" by Washington and Israel and warned of "harsh retaliation" for any threat or aggression, according to a statement carried by state media.
Iran's Civil Aviation Organization said temporary airspace restrictions would be imposed over Tehran, Mashhad and other cities during the mourning period. Iranian officials expect between 15 million and 20 million mourners in Tehran alone, with additional crowds in Qom and in Iraq, in what would be one of the largest public gatherings in Iran's history.
Khamenei, 86, was killed on Feb. 28 in a strike on his compound in Tehran, the first attack of the war; his death was confirmed by Iranian state media the following day. Several family members and senior military commanders were killed in the same and subsequent strikes.
His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, was elected the country's third Supreme Leader in March but has not appeared publicly since, and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said this week he is "marked for death," according to Iranian officials, who called the remark a threat and lodged a complaint with the United Nations.
Funeral ceremonies are scheduled to run from July 4 to July 9. Khamenei's body is set to lie in state at Tehran's Grand Mosalla complex, followed by a procession through Tehran, ceremonies in the holy city of Qom, a stop in Iraq's Najaf and Karbala, and burial at the Imam Reza Shrine in his hometown of Mashhad, according to Iranian and Iraqi officials.
The funeral was originally planned for early March but was postponed amid the war. Khamenei led Iran for 37 years, succeeding Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989.
U.S.-Iran talks, held indirectly in Doha with Qatari and Pakistani mediation, are set to pause during the funeral week and resume afterward, according to Qatari officials, who described progress in recent rounds.
