Iran's Top Officials Attend Khamenei Funeral in Tehran
Iran's top officials publicly attended funeral prayers for late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Sunday, a rare show of confidence after airstrikes killed him in February. The new supreme leader, Khamenei's son Mojtaba, re
Iran's top officials and brothers of the country's new supreme leader emerged into public view Sunday to attend funeral prayers for the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, signaling a new confidence in their safety as calls grew for the killing of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Their presence before hundreds of thousands of people in the capital Tehran would have been unthinkable during the Iran war, which saw airstrikes on February 28 kill the 86-year-old Khamenei, his family members and other officials.
Israel also targeted others who appeared publicly during the war, in at least one case likely using their public appearance to fix their position for a strike.
But still unseen was Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the airstrike that killed his father. Israel has threatened to kill him as well as he leads a theocracy now negotiating with the United States over a permanent end to the war and over Iran's control of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which affects global energy supplies.
Ziba Naderi, a 42-year-old nurse attending the funeral Sunday, said Iran needed to follow whatever Mojtaba Khamenei commands regarding the nation. "I heard the call for revenge, but our leader should say what we need to do," she said. "And we must listen to him."
Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani, a 97-year-old Shiite cleric, led the prayers at Tehran's Grand Mosalla for Khamenei and his late family members.
On hand were Khamenei's sons Masoud, Meysam and Mostafa, who haven't been seen since the war. Revolutionary Guard head General Ahmad Vahidi, who had only been photographed for the first time since the war on Thursday, could be seen in the crowd by Associated Press journalists, flanked by plainclothes security forces as he wore a black baseball cap.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Esmail Qaani, who leads the Guard's expeditionary Quds Force, also attended.
Their appearances came as posters and graffiti at the Grand Mosalla called for the killing of Trump and Israeli leaders.
