The funeral ceremonies are taking place less than three weeks after Iran and the US signed a preliminary agreement to end the war and reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz waterway, through which 20% of global oil and gas shipments pass.

The two countries also gave themselves two months to reach a final deal that covers Iran’s nuclear programme, US sanctions and a permanent truce.

Mediator Qatar said Iranian and US negotiators made “positive progress” at indirect talks in Doha last week following a four-day exchange of strikes and that their next meeting would be scheduled after the conclusion of the events for Khamenei.

On Tuesday, there will be a funeral procession and prayers in the central city of Qom, the centre of Iran’s Shia Muslim clerical establishment.

The ceremonies will then move to the Iraqi shrine cities of Karbala and Najaf on Wednesday.

They will end on Thursday, when Khamenei will be buried at the Imam Reza shrine in his home city of Mashhad, in north-eastern Iran.