Flower petals are thrown on the coffins of Iran’s slain Supreme Chief Ali Khamenei and his relations alongside a road throughout their funeral procession in Tehran on Monday.
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Atta Kenare/AFP by way of Getty Photos
ISTANBUL — Big crowds of individuals joined the funeral procession of Iran’s late supreme chief because it made its method by way of the capital, Tehran, on Monday.
Iranian state media confirmed the caskets of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and 4 relations — killed the primary day of Israeli-U.S. strikes on Iran on Feb. 28 — draped with the Iranian flag and positioned on a big semitrailer adorned with white paneling. It moved slowly as individuals sporting black wailed and swarmed the truck, some throwing flowers on the caskets, others waving purple flags symbolizing revenge.
However not everyone seems to be mourning.
“Why should we spend so much on the mourning ceremony of the leader who ordered the killing of thousands of people?” says 32-year-old Mona. She requested NPR solely to make use of her first title as a result of she fears authorities retaliation.
Iran scholar and Yale lecturer Arash Azizi says that the regime, by way of this funeral, desires to venture a picture of lasting energy.
Mourners collect across the car transporting the caskets of Iran’s slain supreme chief, Ali Khamenei, and his relations throughout the funeral procession previous Azadi Tower, at Azadi Sq. in Tehran, on Monday.
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Wakil Kohsar/AFP by way of Getty Photos
“With the funeral they are attempting to give an image of resilience and continuity,” he says. “That Ayatollah Khamenei is a transnational martyr.”
He says the attendance of officers from around the globe — albeit low-ranking — was aimed toward boosting Khamenei’s present worldwide standing.
International delegates attend
On Friday, quite a lot of official overseas delegations and spiritual leaders attended a ceremony as Khamenei lay in state.
Russia, which has supported Iran throughout the conflict and has obtained drones from Iran for its conflict in Ukraine, despatched former President Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chair of Russia’s Safety Council. Pakistan despatched Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Different overseas attendees included the president of Iraq, the Afghan overseas minister and a delegation from Hamas. Saudi Arabia, which has been at odds with Iran for many years — and the place Iran attacked a U.S. navy base in March — additionally despatched a delegation.
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Safety Council Dmitry Medvedev arrives to attend a ceremony for the stays of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his household on the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla on Friday in Tehran, Iran.
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Meghdad Madadi/ATPImages/Getty Photos
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and the speaker of parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has led the ceasefire negotiating staff with the U.S., had been seen praying close to the caskets. There was no signal of Iran’s present supreme chief, Khamenei’s son, Mojataba Khamenei. He has not been seen in public since he took over in March.
Threats to America and President Trump
Iran held the funeral for Ali Khamenei and his kin greater than 4 months after they had been killed by Israeli-U.S. strikes.
Iranian state media confirmed throngs of individuals gathered at Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla, a big prayer complicated in Tehran, visiting the household’s caskets. Women and men wore black and wept overtly. Ladies slapped their heads with their fingers in mourning, whereas males beat their chests in unison, a convention noticed at Shia Muslim funerals.
There have been chants of “Death to America” and large purple indicators that learn “#KillTrump.” Some individuals waved flags, together with purple ones that symbolize revenge and lots of yellow ones that represented the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah. Hezbollah and Israel have been preventing because the starting of the conflict.
The Iranian authorities stated the ceremonies had been delayed this lengthy due to “the war conditions” and “the brutal U.S. invasion.”
The funeral is a method the Iranian regime is making an attempt to point out stability and energy to Iranians and the world, sending a message that the Islamic revolutionary energy that leads the nation nonetheless enjoys reputation.
Iranians divided
An image of Iran’s slain supreme chief, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is seen on the Grand Mosalla throughout his funeral ceremonies in Tehran on Saturday.
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Atta Kenare/AFP by way of Getty Photos
Khamenei was a divisive determine in Iran. Killed at age 86, he had dominated as supreme chief since 1989 and oversaw the growth of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
The Revolutionary Guard and different safety forces had been accountable for the killing of greater than 6,000 individuals throughout nationwide anti-government protests that broke out in December 2025, in line with Human Rights Activists Information Company, an Iranian human rights group within the U.S.
A 32-year-old lady whose brother was killed throughout the protests in January informed NPR that Khamenei’s funeral gave her little consolation. She requested NPR to not use her title, fearing authorities retaliation.
“Even in the Ayatollah’s death, he still causes us torment,” she stated.
Fatmeh, 33, who requested NPR to solely use her first title as a result of she was afraid of retaliation from the federal government, stated she argued together with her household on a regular basis, particularly her mom, who she says sees Khamenei as a part of her faith.
“She is definitely going to take part in the funeral,” Fatmeh stated about her mom.
5 cities
After mourners visited Khamenei’s casket by way of the weekend, a funeral procession was set to take the physique to the town of Qom. Then the procession will cross into Iraq, to Shia non secular websites within the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala. The physique will lastly be transported again to Iran, the place he shall be buried in his birthplace of Mashhad on Thursday.
Iranian officers say they anticipate hundreds of thousands of individuals to attend.
