ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Giant portraits of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s late supreme leader killed in US-Israeli airstrikes, hung from Tehran’s Grand Mosalla on Tuesday as workers raced to prepare for his grand funeral ceremony.

His funeral, initially delayed at the height of the Middle East war, will take place as Iran and the United States uphold a fragile ceasefire after signing a preliminary deal to halt the conflict.

His public funeral will begin on Saturday, with his body lying in state at the colossal complex in central Tehran that hosts major Friday prayers, official ceremonies and religious gatherings.

The bodies of his slain relatives will also be presented.

The ceremonies are expected to draw between 15 and 20 million mourners, according to officials, which would make it the biggest state funeral in the country’s history.

Workers applied fresh paint across the venue, while a heavy police presence could be seen around the site.

Footage aired by state television showed workers welding metal structures as cranes lifted construction material around the complex.

With huge crowds expected, state television has been urging mourners to use public transport to reach the venue and issued public safety messages urging people to stay hydrated with temperatures set to rise during the funeral period.

An AFP journalist saw some lanes on major highways across the capital already closed, adding to Tehran’s notoriously heavy traffic.

State television has also devoted much of its programming in recent days to documentaries on Khamenei’s life.

– ‘Bright future’ –

A separate event for foreign heads of state is scheduled for Friday, according to Ali-Akbar Pourjamshidian, secretary of the funeral ceremony headquarters.

He estimated that representatives from around 30 countries are expected to attend the funeral with people pouring in from neighbouring countries, including Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Tehran, as well as the holy cities of Qom and Mashhad, which will host later stages of the funeral and burial ceremonies, will observe public holidays while the events are under way.

Authorities have ordered public and private offices in Tehran to close from Saturday through Monday, while major traffic restrictions will make much of the city centre inaccessible to private vehicles.

The ceremony also comes six months after nationwide protests that began over the rising cost of living before evolving into anti-government demonstrations.

Across Tehran, funeral posters promised Iran a “bright future”, while others displayed the ceremony’s slogan: “We Must Rise”.

Following the ceremonies in Tehran, Khamenei’s body will be taken to the holy Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala before his burial on July 9 at the shrine of Imam Reza in the northeastern city of Mashhad, his birthplace.

But at the main ceremony in Tehran, it remains unknown if Khamenei’s son and successor Mojtaba, who has not been seen in public since his appointment, will be present.

“The issue of the Supreme Leader’s attendance is not within my authority or knowledge,” said Pourjamshidian.

“If there is any programme, it will certainly be announced by the Office of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution.”

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Promotion exercise for over 13,000 civil servants in the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) will start today.

Chairman of the FCT Civil Service Commission, Engr Emeka Ezeh, who made this known on Wednesday, said the exercise was as approved by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.

The promotion exercise, which will commence today, will be on for a period of ten days, with over 13,000 civil servants participating across 150 cadres and grades.

The statement read; “As part of the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President, the Honourable Minister of FCT, Barrister Nyesom Wike, has approved the promotion exercise for over 13,000 FCT Civil Servants for the year 2025.

“The exercise is expected to commence on July 1, 2026 for a period of ten days.

“The Minister further directed the Commission to ensure that 2026 promotion is also conducted before the end of the year to ensure all eligible officers are given the opportunity to grow in the service. He directed the Commission to work with all relevant agencies of FCTA to ensure a hitchfree exercise such that all isues which arose from the previous exercise do not repeat themselves.”

He assured all candidates that arrangements have been concluded to ensure this year exercise is hitch free, pleading with participants to be patient during the exercise while wishing them the best of luck in the CBT promotion exercise.

Recall that the FCT Civil Service Commission blazed the trail as the first Civil service Commission to conduct its promotion exercise by CBT in 2024 barely six months after inauguration in March 2024.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Pope Leo has appointed two Nigerians to key positions in the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization.

According to Fides News Agency, the appointments were announced alongside those of three other African Catholic leaders.

Archbishop Alfred Adewale Martins of Lagos was named a member of the Dicastery for Evangelization (Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches), one of the Vatican’s principal departments responsible for missionary activities and the establishment of new local Churches.

Also appointed as a consultor of the same Dicastery is Father Wenceslaus C. Madu, C.M.F., Vice-Chancellor of the Claretian University of Nigeria, Nekede.

Other African appointees as members of the Dicastery are Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, OFM Cap, Archbishop of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of Bamenda, Cameroon.

Archbishop François Sylla of Conakry, Guinea, was also appointed as a consultor.

The appointments are expected to strengthen African representation in the Vatican’s evangelization mission and governance of new particular Churches.