The remains of Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader assassinated in a joint US-Israeli airstrike on February 28, remain unburied more than a month after his death, according to reports.
The delay breaks with established tradition, with security experts suggesting Tehran fears that a funeral ceremony could be targeted by further Israeli airstrikes or spark nationalist counter-rallies similar to nationwide uprisings earlier this year.
Security expert Taleblu said: "It speaks volumes that the turnout for the funeral of the regime’s founding father in 1989 was such a massive affair, and yet one generation later his successor is still not able to have a funeral well over a month after his passing." He added that the regime fears the consequences of the truth getting out.
Iranian officials are now considering burying Khamenei in the remote northeastern city of Mashhad, near the border with Turkmenistan and far from Israel. The city is his hometown and offers a shrine with heavy security protection.
A three-day state funeral had been planned to begin on March 4, but it never materialised amid large-scale US and Israeli bombing campaigns. The US and Iran signed a temporary truce on April 8, which is set to expire on Wednesday.
