Iran is holding the funeral for former Supreme Leader Seyed Ali Khamenei, assassinated by Israel, for a second day. On Sunday, three sons attended the funeral for their father and four other family members. But Mojtaba Khamenei, the son who succeeded to the post of supreme leader, did not appear.
Iranian state television aired footage of the three brothers, Mostafa, Meysam and Masoud Khamenei, praying behind the coffins. The scene took place in the broad courtyard of the Grand Mosalla of Imam Khomeini in Tehran. A mosalla is a large religious complex.
Iran is conducting a week-long large-scale funeral procession, displaying public devotion to the theocratic state and revolutionary fervor. The schedule also includes moving the remains to Shiite holy sites in neighboring Iraq. Khamenei's coffin was placed indoors for a day to allow condolences from senior domestic and foreign figures. On the 4th, it was then displayed outdoors in a glass casket, alongside the coffins of his daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law and 14-month-old granddaughter.
Mojtaba has not yet appeared in public, and no photographs have been released. He is known to have been injured in the Feb. 28 attack. That attack took the lives of his father and other family members. At the time, Israel and the United States bombed Iranian targets as they launched war. Aides told Reuters that Mojtaba's face was severely disfigured and that he had suffered major injuries to one or both legs.
The New York Times reported that Mojtaba, the current supreme leader, had told officials he wished to attend his father's funeral, but that security authorities had so far refused because of concerns that Israel might target him. According to the report, Mojtaba expressed his wish to attend the funeral in Mashhad on the 9th and offer "prayers for the dead." However, security authorities are said to have refused out of concern that Israel might attempt to assassinate him at the funeral or track his movements to find his hiding place.
That day, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and National Assembly Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf prayed behind the coffins. Masoud Khamenei wept as an imam recited the funeral prayers, wiping his tears with a keffiyeh. The keffiyeh, a checkered scarf, is a symbol of revolutionary ideology and solidarity with Palestine in Iran.
Iranian citizens flocked to the mosalla. Many shed tears, and some beat their chests in mourning. Overnight condolences continued as well. Iran's subway authority said it recorded 7 million uses from the night of the 4th to the morning of the 5th.
After the Monday event in central Tehran, which authorities have billed as a large-scale procession, the remains will be moved to Qom, the theological city at the center of the Shiite hierarchy. A ceremony will be held there on the 7th. The remains will then be flown to Iraq, where ceremonies will be held Wednesday at the Shiite holy sites of Najaf and Karbala. On the 9th, they will return to Iran for another procession in Mashhad. He is to be buried near the tomb of a medieval Shiite imam.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump told the news outlet Axios that peace negotiations have been suspended for one week for the funeral-related events.
