THE GUARDIAN: New supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei still absent from public view as his three brothers stand beside father’s coffin
Beside the coffin of the assassinated former Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei at a packed prayer hall in Tehran on Sunday there were calls for the killing of Donald Trump.
Iran is staging a week of mass funeral processions for Khamenei, who was killed along with other members of his family on the first day of the US and Israeli war on 28 February. The funeral was delayed because of the war.
The funeral prayers for the former supreme leader and four other family members created a political spectacle at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla that melded grief with calls for revenge.
Many people had stayed in the mosque overnight or arrived well before dawn to be ready for the start of the prayer reading at 8am.
Holding Iranian flags and pictures of their martyred leader, and waving red flags symbolising vengeance the crowds were vastly larger and more militant than on Saturday, the first day of this elaborately conceived funeral designed to impress on the world that Iran has social resilience and determination to preserve its independence. » | Patrick Wintour in Tehran | Sunday, July 5, 2026
