New Delhi, July 2 -- TEHRAN - His body has been preserved in cold storage since February 28, the day US and Israeli strikes killed him in the opening hours of a war that has not fully ended. On Saturday, after four months and two rounds of ceasefire negotiations, Iran will finally bury Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - the man who led the Islamic Republic for 37 years and died before seeing how it survives without him.

Iran is preparing what authorities describe as the largest state funeral in the country's history. Tehran's mayor has projected that 20 million mourners will converge on the capital for Monday's main procession, a 10-kilometer route from Imam Hossein Square to Azadi Square in temperatures expected to reach 45 degrees Celsius. Anoth...