Day 2 of Khamenei Funeral Procession: Iranians Demand Retribution Against Trump

Tens of thousands of Iranians filled the streets of Tehran to take part in the funeral procession for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, demanding commensurate retribution against United States President Donald Trump. Drone footage broadcast by state television showed huge crowds packing a motorway in the city centre. The coffin of Ali Khamenei, along with four of his family members, was carried on a large lorry through the streets, while fire hoses sprayed water from above to cool the mourners. As the procession passed under a bridge, mourners threw stones at a billboard hanging overhead. The billboard displayed an image of US President Donald Trump with a target superimposed on his head. “The US killed our father,” read the text on the board. “We will not let you get away with it!” As protesters set fire to American and British flags, women in black chadors held aloft red placards bearing the words ‘KILL TRUMP’ in black English lettering. Others carried posters depicting the faces of Trump, US Vice President JD Vance, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, each shown in a gun sight alongside the words ‘There will be blood’. The wider crowd waved Iranian flags and red banners bearing calls summoning the “avengers of Khamenei”, a phrase that has been a core part of Shia Islamic tradition since the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad fell in battle in the seventh century. The mourning ceremonies for Ali Khamenei began on Friday. Further large-scale open-air ceremonies were held on Saturday and Sunday ahead of the grand funeral procession on Monday. Authorities stated that over the weekend the body would be taken for further processions in Qom, the centre of Shia religious learning in Iran, as well as two cities with Shia holy sites in neighbouring Iraq. Khamenei’s body will subsequently be brought back to Iran for burial in the historic shrine complex in Mashhad on 9 July.