Iran is examining several locations within the precincts of the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad for the burial of the slain supreme leader, Fars reported on June 4.

Khamenei was killed on the first day of the war with the US and Israel in an airstrike on his house in Tehran on February 28 and was the second supreme leader of the Islamic Republic after its founder, Ruhollah Khomeini, who seized power in 1979. The delay in his burial is highly unusual in Islamic tradition, where bodies are supposed to be buried 24 hours after death. 

Abbas Farazinia, adviser to the custodian of Astan Quds Razavi, the holy shrine in Mashhad, said several sites around the shrine had been studied and would be proposed in due course to the children of the slain leader and to the current leader of the Islamic revolution.

He said the late leader had always held a special position at Astan Quds Razavi, with his first custodial appointment issued during the tenure of the late Ayatollah Tabasi.

Provincial and shrine officials began work immediately after news of the death, holding meetings to plan arrangements, he said with a public funeral ceremony held in the city following his death.

A joint committee was formed under the deputy custodian of Astan Quds Razavi, working with provincial officials, with plans drawn up in two main parts.

The first covered provincial planning to receive the body, so that the shrine authority could play a central role alongside the public and officials whenever the ceremony was held.

The second concerned the burial site. Once a final decision was taken, all preparations for interment beside the shrine of Ali ibn Musa al-Reza would be completed in under 24 hours, Farazinia said.

He said millions of pilgrims from across the country were expected to attend, with accommodation and catering planned for a window of 48 hours before and after the ceremony and for several days afterwards.

Popular groups, charitable donors and processional units active across the country had been factored into the planning, including those used during the Arbaeen pilgrimage on routes leading to Mashhad.

Farazinia said the designs would allow cultural, social and political events to be held at the site throughout the year without disrupting pilgrimage to the shrine.

Khamenei was replaced in the position by his son Mojtaba, who hasn't been seen or heard since the war.