Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s coffin has been draped with a red flag from the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, a symbol associated with the Battle of Karbala. The flag was brought from the holy shrine, and Khamenei is scheduled to be buried there on July 9. The country is currently observing mourning and farewell ceremonies following his death in a U.S.-Israeli airstrike in February at the onset of the war.

Nader Hashemi, associate professor of Middle East and Islamic politics at Georgetown University, told Al Jazeera that the red flag represents the sacrifice of Imam Hussein ibn Ali, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, who was martyred in the 7th-century Battle of Karbala. He explained that Iran’s leadership is drawing a symbolic parallel between Khamenei’s death and Imam Hussein’s martyrdom, portraying it as a moral and spiritual continuation of that historic struggle.

The symbolic gesture underscores Iran’s effort to frame Khamenei’s death within a broader narrative of resistance and religious sacrifice, reinforcing national unity during the mourning period.