The son who followed the assassination of Iran’s leader Khamenei was not at the funeral as three other sons appeared
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The son who succeeded the slain leader of Iran was not present at the funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and four other family members on Sunday, while three other sons came to pray next to the coffins.
State TV showed Mostafa, Meysam and Masoud Khamenei behind coffins placed in the courtyard of Imam Khomeini’s Grand Mosalla in Tehran, a sprawling religious building.
Mojtaba, the new Supreme Leader, has not been publicly seen or released.
He was seriously injured in the attack that killed his father and other family members on February 28, when Israel and the US bombed Iran at the start of the war. Mojtaba’s face was disfigured and he suffered severe injuries to one or both legs, people close to him told Reuters.
The conflict, which dragged on for weeks before the sides reached a shaky ceasefire agreement, has caused death and destruction across the region and left Iran’s theocratic government in power, backed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
In a show of public devotion to the government and fervor for reform, the Islamic Republic is planning a week of multiple funerals for Khamenei, including taking his remains to Shia shrines in neighboring Iraq.
After a day of lying in state for visiting senior Iranian leaders and foreign dignitaries, Khamenei’s coffin with his daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law and 14-month-old grandson were displayed outside on Saturday under glass.
Mojtaba is facing death threats
Israel has threatened to kill Mojtaba as he leads the theocracy that is now negotiating with the United States about a permanent end to the war and over Iran’s stranglehold on traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting the global energy supply.
Another person who was disappointed said that he was hoping to see the new leader during the funeral ceremonies.
“Until the last minute, before the prayer started, I kept telling those around me that I have hope [Mojtaba] he would come. That was our only wish,” a young woman wearing makeup and sunglasses told the official Tasnim news agency in an interview.
Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani, a 97-year-old Shia cleric, led the prayers for Khamenei and his family.
Before the funeral, Masoud, Meysam and Mostafa had not been seen since the war began.
Masoud was seen crying and wiping his tears with a keffiyeh – a checkered scarf that is a symbol in Iran of the military’s revolutionary ideology and solidarity with the Palestinian people – as the imam said the funeral prayers.
The head of the Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, who was photographed for the first time since the fighting on Thursday, was seen in the crowd, flanked by soldiers who were wearing a black baseball cap.
Their appearance comes as posters and graffiti in Grand Mosalla call for the death of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mohammad Rasouli, a poet who welcomed the ceremony before the prayers, drew calls “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Addressing the crowd through loudspeakers at the funeral, Rasouli asked, referring to Trump, “Why is a man with no morals still alive in the world?”
The question drew cheers from the crowd, with Rasouli saying “the world is no longer a good place” for Trump. It was noted for the first time, a direct threat to Trump’s life by an official during the funeral.
The ceasefire halted the four-month-old war under an agreement with Washington that Iranian authorities say will ultimately bring major economic benefits, in line with what they describe as a victory for the powerful regime.
Trump told news website Axios that peace talks had been put on hold for a week due to events surrounding the funeral.
Iranians are flocking to the center of Tehran
Iranians, many crying and others beating their chests, filled the Mosalla, including all night. Iran’s metro rail network said it had made seven million trips from late Saturday into Sunday morning as people flocked to the center.
After what authorities billed as a huge procession in central Tehran on Monday, the remains will be taken to the seminary city of Qom, the center of Iran’s Shia state, for ceremonies on Tuesday.
From there, the body will be flown to Iraq for ceremonies to be held in the Shia holy cities of Najaf and Kerbala on Wednesday. He will return to Iran on Thursday for another program in Mashhad, where he will be buried next to the tomb of one of the ancient Shia imams.
Authorities are planning to mobilize millions of people for a massive procession in the coming days, providing transport, food and accommodation.
