Editorial photo #13883382 Human Interest

Muharram Procession On Boats In Kashmir

A Kashmiri Shia Muslim man holds a child beside portraits of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (right) and Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei (left) during a Muharram procession on boats on the ninth day of Ashura in the interiors of Dal Lake in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, on June 25, 2026. Ashura is a period of mourning in remembrance of the seventh-century martyrdom of Prophet Muhammad's grandson Imam Hussein, who is killed in the battle of Karbala in modern-day Iraq, in 680 AD. The funeral of Iran's late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is scheduled to begin in Tehran on July 4, with burial set for July 9 in the holy city of Mashhad, following commemorative ceremonies in Tehran and Qom. The funeral follows months after Khamenei's death during the Iran-Israel conflict, which expanded into a broader confrontation involving the United States. The conflict, involving Israeli and U.S. airstrikes on Iranian military and nuclear facilities and retaliatory Iranian missile and drone operations, resulted in significant casualties and heightened tensions across the Middle East before a ceasefire and subsequent peace negotiations were announced. (Photo by Firdous Nazir/NurPhoto)