ISLAMABAD (AP) — Funeral ceremonies for former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will be in July, the country's state-run television said Saturday, as mediators said an agreement to end the war was close.
The funeral, burial and farewell events for Khamenei will take place between July 4 and 9 during Muharram, a traditional period of mourning in the Shia Muslim calendar.
Khamenei was killed in the opening attack of the war that Israel and
the United States launched against Iran in late February. He is succeeded by his son, Mojtaba, who is seen as even less compromising.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said a deal aimed at ending the war was closer than “ever before” and expected to be finalized within 24 hours. Pakistan was preparing for the electronic signing of the agreement, to be 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 White House did not respond to a request for comment, and Iran signaled caution.
“Although it will not happen tomorrow, the possibility that it could take place in the coming days cannot be ruled out,” foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said in a statement carried by state TV.
Baghaei added that the Islamabad memorandum under discussion was focused on ending the war and "at this stage, it has been decided that there will be no discussion of the nuclear issue.”
Iran's nuclear program and highly enriched uranium have long been at the center of tensions with the U.S. and Israel and an international source of concern.
Three regional officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations, said Friday they expected a signing ceremony in the coming days after officials in Washington and Tehran approve the agreement.
The apparent breakthrough came after Iran exchanged fire with the U.S. and Israel earlier in the week, threatening to rupture a fragile ceasefire and push the Middle East back into full-scale war.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X Friday that an agreement “has never been closer.” U.S. President Donald Trump, who has asserted multiple times in recent weeks the countries were on the cusp of a deal, shared Araghchi’s post on social media.
Trump on Thursday claimed significant progress in negotiations, hours after he threatened to seize Iran’s oil industry.
The war has rattled the Middle East. Iran's grip on the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for attacks virtually shut down oil and natural gas shipments from the Persian Gulf, and the U.S. has blockaded Iranian ports. The ceasefire has been in place since April 7.
The 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. He’ll be buried there at the Imam Reza Shrine, considered the holiest place among Shiite devotees.
Funerals for Khamenei's daughter and son-in-law, also killed in the February strike, will be on the same day.
Khamenei remolded the Islamic Republic after taking the reins following 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.
Khamenei ruled 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.
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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price and Aamer Madhani in Washington and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.
