Ali Khamenei's Funeral Begins, Mojtaba Khamenei's Absence Fuels Speculation
The funeral procession for Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, officially began on Sunday local time. However, public attention was drawn to the absence of his crown prince, Mojtaba Khamenei, amidst a ceremony attended by thousands of mourners and senior regime officials.
While Khamenei’s three other sons, Masoud, Mostafa, and Meysam, were seen accompanying President Masoud Pezeshkian and Revolutionary Guard chief Ahmad Vahidi, Mojtaba’s absence triggered wild speculation. Circulating rumours suggest Mojtaba was injured in the US-Israeli airstrike that killed his father last February. He has not been seen in public since being appointed leader in early March.
Iranian authorities estimate between 12 and 20 million people will attend the series of processions dubbed the ‘Funeral of the Century’. The events are scheduled to take place over a week across various regions of Iran and Iraq. Khamenei’s body is currently lying in state at the Grand Mosalla Religious Complex in Tehran, with prayers led by prominent Shia cleric Jafar Sobhani.
Mojtaba’s absence comes amid concerns that he is the next target for assassination by Israel. A fragile ceasefire between the two nations currently holds as peace negotiations proceed.
Regarding the situation, US President Donald Trump reportedly stated that peace talks were postponed for a week to honour the mourning period. Trump bluntly joked that Washington could wipe out all of Iran’s senior officials gathered in one strike. ‘But we are not going to do that because if we did, we would have no one left to negotiate with,’ Trump was quoted as saying by Axios.
Trump also admitted he was surprised to see so many Iranians crying, while suggesting the tears might be fake. This statement immediately provoked an emotional reaction from mourners. ‘We did not make a revolution 47 years ago to shed fake tears. We did not sacrifice all these martyrs to shed fake tears,’ asserted Zahra Safaei, 50, a mourner.
Anti-Western sentiment echoed strongly at the funeral site. Crowds carrying banners were heard chanting slogans of ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel’, along with calls for revenge against Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
As of Sunday, the official IRNA news agency reported that over 4,000 people had received medical treatment around the site due to overcrowding, though no fatalities have been reported. After the Tehran procession concludes on Monday, Khamenei’s coffin will be taken to Qom on Tuesday, then to Shia holy sites in Iraq on Wednesday, before finally being buried in his hometown of Mashhad on Thursday.