A powerful general leading Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard appeared publicly for the first time in months as Tehran prepared Friday for the extended funeral of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Photos released by Iranian state media showed Gen. Ahmad Vahidi attending a meeting regarding Khamenei's funeral, and later sitting next to his casket during a smaller service held Thursday night near the supreme leader’s former downtown Tehran residence as Iran’s theocracy observed it.
Experts indicate that Vahidi is a significant figure in shaping Iran's firm position in negotiations aimed at permanently ending the conflict with the United States. He is understood to be part of a small circle maintaining direct contact with Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who remains in hiding following reports of injuries sustained during the February 28 Israeli strikes that killed his father, the elder Khamenei.
Vahidi has not been seen publicly since February 8, weeks before the Iran war commenced. Israel killed top military and government leaders in Iran during the war and has also threatened Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei's life.
Video from Iranian state media depicted the mourning ceremony for Khamenei near the husseiniyah at his Tehran compound. An Israeli airstrike early in the war killed Khamenei and some of his relatives. State media reported that Khamenei’s body rested in a coffin on a stage, with red tulips arranged before it, and what appeared to be paper butterflies hung from the ceiling in front of the casket.
Mourners dressed in black, identified by state media as coming from families who lost loved ones during the 12-day war in 2025 and the recent Iran war, threw scarves and other items for attendees to brush against the coffin, a customary practice in Iran.
Subsequently, state media displayed images of Khamenei’s casket covered with a red flag bearing white calligraphy reading “Ya Hussein,” a Shiite expression commemorating the martyrdom of Prophet Muhammad's grandson in the 7th century. This flag had been flown over the Imam Hussein golden-domed shrine in Karbala, Iraq. The flag also traditionally symbolizes both blood shed by an unjustly killed person and a call for retribution.
On Friday morning, security forces carried Khamenei’s coffin, now draped with the Iranian flag, overhead as it arrived at the Grand Mosalla in Tehran. Religious leaders, officials, and foreign dignitaries passed by Khamenei’s coffin, alongside those of his other deceased family members, including his 14-month-old granddaughter, Zahra Mohammadi Golpayegani.
Beginning Saturday, Iran will conduct a dayslong funeral for Khamenei, with his body being transported to cities in both Iran and neighboring Iraq. Authorities plan to restrict streets, airspace, and daily life in Tehran as mourners honor the life of Khamenei, who governed Iran for decades with an authoritarian approach while confronting the West.