Military Mobilization and Security Alert.. Tehran Prepares for Khamenei's Funeral Four Months After His Death

SadaNews - Tehran is preparing to bury Iranian leader Ali Khamenei, over four months after his assassination, amid a large mobilization of the Basij forces and the Revolutionary Guard, alongside strict security measures before the ceremonies that Iranian authorities say will be "historic".

The long delay in the burial has raised questions about how the body has been preserved, as analysts say traditions usually call for fast burials and do not favor chemical embalming.

Terrorism expert Mohammad Omar told "Fox News Digital" that the likely method is "preservation by refrigeration, not embalming", adding that Shia jurisprudence permits delaying burial and refrigeration in exceptional cases, and that obtaining a religious exemption for a Supreme Leader "will not be difficult".

According to Omar, forensic morgues in Iran sometimes retain bodies for months, making the preservation of the body by freezing for four months "not surprising" within what authorities call "religious and legal standards".

Khamenei was killed on February 28 during a U.S. strike that targeted his compound in Tehran, in an operation dubbed "Epic Anger", after ruling the country for 36 years.

Omar believes the nature of the strike may have prevented the body from being displayed, stating that it was of a type that targets fortifications, and that the bodies of others killed with him were discovered weeks later and identified through DNA tests.

According to "Iran International", Iranian authorities are preparing for a massive security operation to secure the funeral.

Omar stated that the Basij and the Revolutionary Guard overseeing the scene "is the main story, not a passing detail", clarifying that the Basij is coordinating logistical aspects, including converting highways into parking areas, and distributing areas of Tehran to provinces, while the Revolutionary Guard is tasked with crowd control.

Omar described the ceremonies as "a political mobilization dressed as a funeral", adding that the very apparatus organizing the scene of mourning today is the same that suppressed protests in January and prevented families of some victims from holding funerals for them.

The funeral ceremonies and burial will take place at several sites of symbolic significance throughout Iran, from the seat of power in Tehran, passing through the holy cities for Shia Muslims, Qom, Karbala, and Najaf in Iraq, concluding in Mashhad, with each stop carrying its own special symbolism.

The chosen funeral stations aim to combine political and religious dimensions, starting in Tehran, the center of state institutions, moving through Qom, center of Shia seminaries, then Karbala and Najaf, the two most important holy cities for Shia in Iraq, before concluding in Mashhad.