Iran’s supreme leader absent from funeral of father Ali Khamenei | Iran
Three sons of former Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei prayed next to his own coffin and those of four other family members on Sunday, but Mojtaba, the son who succeeded him as Iran’s religious leader, did not appear.
State television showed Mostafa, Meysam and Massoud Khamenei praying behind coffins laid out in the vast courtyard of the Imam Khomeini Mosalla, a large religious complex in Tehran. As a demonstration of the people’s devotion to the theocratic state and revolutionary fervor, the country holds mass funerals for Khamenei for a week; This included moving his body to Shiite religious sites in neighboring Iraq.
After a day spent indoors in the province for visits by senior Iranian leaders and foreign officials, Khamenei’s coffin was displayed outdoors under glass on Saturday, along with those of his daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law and 14-month-old grandson.
No images or images have yet been released to the public regarding Mojtaba, who is said to have been injured in the attack that killed his father and family members on February 28, when Israel and the USA bombed Iranian targets at the beginning of the war. People close to Mojtaba Khamenei’s face was disfigured and he suffered serious injuries in one or both legs, people close to him told Reuters.
The ceasefire suspended four months of war under a deal with Washington that Iranian officials said would ultimately yield major economic benefits in line with what they described as “a victory over a superpower.” US President Donald Trump told the Axios news site that peace talks were stopped for a week due to the events at the funeral.
On Sunday, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf prayed behind the coffins. Massoud Khamenei was seen crying as an imam read funeral prayers and wiping his tears with a keffiyeh, the checkered scarf that is a symbol of militant revolutionary ideals in Iran and solidarity with the Palestinians.
Crowds of Iranians, many crying and some beating their chests, filled the Mosalla well into the night. Iran’s metro rail network said it handled 7 million trips from late Saturday to Sunday morning as people flocked to the centre.
The remains will be taken to the theological city of Qom, the center of Iran’s Shiite hierarchy, for ceremonies on Tuesday, after authorities announced a massive procession in central Tehran on Monday.
From there, the body will be transferred to Iraq for ceremonies to be held in the Shiite holy shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala on Wednesday. He will return to Iran on Thursday to be buried next to the grave of another medieval Shiite imam in Mashhad.
Authorities plan to mobilize millions of people for large marches in the coming days, providing transportation, food and accommodation services.
