Three of slain Iran leader’s four sons attend funeral

The three sons of slain Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei prayed next to his coffin and that of four other family members, but his son Mojtaba, 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 Grand Mosalla, a vast religious complex in Tehran.

Their father, along with several other members of the family, was killed in an airstrike as the United States and Israel launched a war on Iran on February 28.

The conflict, which raged for several weeks before the sides reached a shaky ceasefire, caused death and destruction across the region and left Iran’s theocratic government, backed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in power.

In a display of public devotion to the state and revolutionary fervor, the Islamic Republic is holding a week of mass funerals for Khamenei, including taking 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, along with the coffins of his daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law and 14-month-old grandchild, were displayed outdoors under glass on Saturday.

On Sunday, tens of thousands of mourners, including soldiers, seminarians and ordinary men and women, flocked to the Mosalla to pay their respects to Khamenei and his family, waving flags emblazoned with promises of revenge against the United States and Israel.

Others prayed together at the complex named after Khomeini, Iran’s first religious leader, whom Khamenei succeeded in 1989.

According to reports in state media, the farewell ceremony was extended by about an hour until 22:00 due to the high attendance.

No images or footage of Mojtaba, who is said to have been injured in the attack that killed his father and other family members on February 28, when Israel and the USA bombed Iranian targets at the beginning of the war, have still not been released to the public.

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.

One disappointed mourner said he had hoped to see the new religious leader during funeral events.

“Until the last moment before the prayer started, I continued to tell those around me that I hoped Mojtaba Khamenei would come. That was our only wish,” a young woman wearing make-up and sunglasses said in an interview with Tasnim news agency.

The ceasefire suspended four months of war under a deal with the United States that Iranian officials say will ultimately yield huge economic benefits, in line with what they describe as a victory against a superpower.

More than 3,000 people were killed during the war, including some of Iran’s most senior politicians and military commanders.

Military bases and major infrastructure projects were destroyed, causing billions of dollars in damage.

However, Iran hitting US bases in the region, damaging the Gulf Arab countries hosting them, and maintaining control of the Strait of Hormuz caused an increase in global energy prices.

The interim deal reached last month includes freezing billions of dollars of Iran’s assets held abroad and waiving financial sanctions that have brought Iran’s economy to its knees.

US President Donald Trump told the Axios news site that peace talks were suspended for a week due to the events surrounding the funeral.

After what authorities billed as a massive procession in central Tehran on Monday, the remains will be taken to the theological city of Qom, the center of Iran’s Shiite hierarchy, for ceremonies on Tuesday.

The body will be sent to Iraq from here for ceremonies to be held in Najaf and Karbala, the holy shrines of Shiites, on Wednesday.

He will return to Iran on Thursday to be buried next to the grave of another medieval Shiite imam in Mashhad.