Amid the news of Iran’s former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death, a video showing a large group of people crying and offering prayers is going viral on social media. The footage is being claimed to depict recent visuals from his funeral.
Let’s check the truth
Factcheck:
We started our investigation with a reverse image search on Google and we found similar visuals were published by Iranian state media network Press TV on Facebook. As per the caption, the footage shows funeral rites for Sayyid Hadi al-Husseini, brother of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq’s highest Shiite Muslim authority.
Moving forward, we found the same visuals were shared by an X account named Tehran Times on 19 January 2026, with a caption stating that “Ayatollah Sayyed Hadi Al-Sistani, a prominent Shia cleric and brother of the renowned Marja’ Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Al-Sistani, was laid to rest in Karbala.” This indicates that these visuals predate Ayatollah Khamenei’s death.
The Imam Hussain Holy Shrine in Karbala has published images of cleric Sayyid Hadi al-Sistani’s funeral procession on its official website. The visuals, along with the individuals featured in the viral video, can also be identified in the images shared by the shrine.
Conclusion
Fact crescendo found that the claim made along with the viral video to be False. This video is old and falsely shared as recent visuals from the funeral of Ayatollah Khamenei.
Title: Old video falsely shared as recent visuals from Ayatollah Khamenei’s funeral
Fact Check By: Usha Manoj
Result: False
