Iran mourns Khamenei as crowds call for revenge
Top Iranian officials attended funeral prayers in Tehran as Mojtaba Khamenei remained out of sight and U.S. talks stayed on hold.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
Hundreds of thousands of mourners gathered in Tehran on Sunday for funeral prayers for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with many calling for retaliation over the strike that killed Iran’s longtime supreme leader. The Associated Press reported that the ceremonies also served as a public show of confidence by senior Iranian officials as talks with the United States over ending the war remain stalled.
Khamenei, 86, was killed in a Feb. 28 attack that also killed other senior officials and members of his family, according to the AP. His son and successor, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has not appeared during the multi-day funeral events and is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the same strike, the AP reported.
The absence is politically sensitive because Israel targeted Iranian leaders during the war, at least once likely using a public appearance to locate a senior figure, according to the AP. Israel has also threatened to kill the younger Khamenei, the AP reported.
Senior figures attend prayers in Tehran
Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani, a 97-year-old Shiite cleric, led prayers at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla for Khamenei and relatives killed in the strike, according to the AP. Khamenei’s other sons, Masoud, Meysam and Mostafa, attended after not being seen since the war, the AP reported.
Associated Press journalists saw Revolutionary Guard chief Gen. Ahmad Vahidi in the crowd, accompanied by plainclothes security personnel and wearing a black baseball cap. President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Esmail Qaani, who leads the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force, also attended, according to the AP.
Mourners dressed in black carried flags and banners honoring Khamenei, the AP reported. The crowd chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” and some hard-liners called for the killing of U.S. President Donald Trump, according to the AP.
Ziba Naderi, a 42-year-old nurse at the funeral, told the AP that Iranians should follow Mojtaba Khamenei’s direction. “I heard the call for revenge, but our leader should say what we need to do,” she said. “And we must listen to him.”
U.S. talks paused during mourning
The AP reported that funeral events have delayed negotiations aimed at reaching a permanent end to the war. The United States is pressing Iran to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz and curb its disputed nuclear program, while Iran is demanding a measure of control over the waterway, according to the AP.
Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz during the war, disrupting a route central to global energy shipments, the AP reported. A multinational maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Sunday that the United States assisted 70 transits through the strait over the previous 72 hours, including 18 on Saturday, while traffic remained below prewar levels and the threat level stayed “substantial,” according to the AP.
Iranian authorities plan to move Khamenei’s body through cities in Iran and neighboring Iraq, with caskets scheduled to be driven through Tehran streets on Monday, the AP reported. Authorities have closed streets, airspace and daily activity for mourning, which is set to end Thursday with Khamenei’s burial at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace, according to the AP.
The AP reported that U.S. authorities have tracked Iranian threats against Trump and other officials for years after Trump ordered the 2020 killing of Quds Force commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Iran has repeatedly denied plotting to kill Trump, according to the AP.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.