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Still no sign of supreme leader as Iran begins funeral ceremonies for Khamenei

2026-07-04 16:55:12, Kosova & Bota CNA

The multi-day funeral ceremonies for Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have begun, but there has yet to be a public appearance by his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded him in the post.

Crowds gathered at the Grand Mosque prayer complex in Tehran from the early hours of July 4, with authorities saying they expect up to 20 million participants during the six-day ceremonies.

Security measures around the complex are extremely tight. Riot police and other security forces have been deployed throughout the area, roads around the Grand Mosalla were closed hours before the start of the ceremonies, and, according to reports, authorities have created a no-car zone for more than a kilometer around the venue.

Iranian media reported that participants chanted "revenge" as they gathered to pay their last respects to Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the war between the United States, Israel and Iran, on February 28.

The coffins containing the bodies of Khamenei and four members of his family, killed on that very first day of the war, have been placed for homage and will remain there until July 6.

Khamenei's remains will then be taken to the holy city of Qom, before being laid to rest in Baghdad, Karbala and Najaf in neighboring Iraq. He will be buried in his hometown of Mashhad, in northeastern Iran, on July 9.

During his more than 36 years in power, Khamenei usually led funeral prayers for top military and religious figures who passed away, but it is still unclear who will lead the funeral for him on July 5.

Mojtaba Khamenei, the third supreme leader of the Islamic Republic, has not been seen in public since he was injured in the same attack that killed his father and wife.

One of the most closely watched questions regarding Khamenei's state funeral is whether his son, Mojtaba, will make a public appearance.

Analysts are divided on both the likelihood of this happening and the significance such an appearance would have. They vacillate between ritual logic, which suggests he must be present, and security concerns that make the situation uncertain.

In an interview with Radio Free Europe's Radio Farda, human rights activist Taghi Rahmani said that this issue is related to a fundamental requirement of the ritual of inheritance of power.

"The next leader must pray over the body of the previous leader and in this way he gains formal legitimacy," Rahmani said. "This is one of the main reasons why the question of Mojtaba Khamenei's presence is being raised."

Asked directly whether he expects the new supreme leader to attend the ceremony, Rahmani said the odds are in favor of that, but stressed that wartime security considerations may outweigh the regime's desire to organize a grand funeral with Mojtaba Khamenei present.

"They wanted to organize a funeral with a large and magnificent crowd; such a funeral is very important for the regime," Rahmani said, adding that the Islamic Republic badly needs to reaffirm its authority after the war.

UK-based political analyst Babak Dorbeiki was much more skeptical about whether this question can be answered now.

"I don't know," he told Radio Farda. "Honestly, first of all, I'm not even sure if such a person is still alive, or at least if he's in good health."

However, Dorbeiki said he wouldn't be surprised if the supreme leader eventually appeared.

"If he exists, it doesn't seem at all impossible or strange to me that he would participate."

However, he warned that his presence or absence should not be interpreted as a signal for the succession process in power, arguing that security concerns, rather than political calculations, will determine what happens.

"It is not possible to give any clear political meaning to the presence or absence of Mojtaba Khamenei," he said, "because the security dimension in this story seems to me much more dominant now than the political one."/REL