Mojtaba Khamenei Vows Revenge for Ali Khamenei's Death

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has asserted that avenging the death of his father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei, is a national demand that must be fulfilled. The statement was delivered in a message read out at Ali Khamenei’s funeral ceremony on Saturday (11 July), as reported by Iran’s state broadcaster, IRIB.

In his message, Mojtaba promised to seek retribution for the death of Ali Khamenei and other martyrs from those he described as criminal killers. “We pledge to avenge your innocent blood and that of all the martyrs of these two wars at the hands of the criminal and dishonourable murderers,” he declared.

Ali Khamenei was buried on Thursday at the Imam Reza Shrine in the city of Mashhad, in north-eastern Iran. The procession marked the end of a week-long series of mourning ceremonies following his death in attacks by the United States (US) and Israel that began on 28 February.

Tensions have flared once more, despite Tehran and Washington having signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in June through Pakistani mediation. The agreement was intended to end the conflict that erupted in February, including a ceasefire arrangement and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

However, the situation on the ground has exposed the fragility of the agreement. This week, the two sides once again engaged in mutual attacks related to commercial shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. The US was reported to have struck a number of targets in Iran, which Tehran in turn responded to by targeting US assets in the region.

Meanwhile, a report by The Wall Street Journal cited Israeli intelligence accusing Iran of planning an assassination attempt against US President Donald Trump. In response to the issue, Trump, via his Truth Social platform, threatened to launch thousands of missiles at Iran should Tehran genuinely attempt to harm him.