Mass Funeral in Tehran: Khamenei’s Death Fuels Vengeance Rallies

Sun Sep 06 2026 12:30:46 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

Thousands flood Tehran streets for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s funeral, and protesters demand vengeance for the US‑Israel strike that killed him.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s funeral procession wound its way through Tehran, drawing some tens of thousands of mourners in a nation still reeling from a recent war. While his body lay in state, a flag‑draped coffin was paraded across the city’s main boulevards, drawing flags, banners and sharp placards calling for retribution. High‑ranking officials, including former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the incumbent chief, joined the mourners in subdued gestures of solidarity. The death of Iran’s supreme leader, who was killed by an Israeli strike on 28 February, occurred amid a fragile truce that the US and Iran have tentatively moved towards. Irish, the funeral series will now head to Qom and then to the northern city of Mashhad to inter him beneath the Imam Reza shrine.

Mass Funeral in Tehran: Khamenei’s Death Fuels Vengeance Rallies

In a dazzling display of homages to the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the streets of Tehran were veined with hundreds of thousands of mourners on Sunday. The coffin, wrapped in an Iranian flag, dolled along a 10km route that began at Imam Hossein Square and stretched westward to the iconic Enghelab and Azadi Squares. The procession was slow, solemn, and heavily guarded, reflecting the weight of a nation losing its highest spiritual and political figure.

While Khamenei’s eldest son, Majid, was present in the state ceremony, his own successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, did not attend the funeral. The son, who was wounded in the same Israeli strike that killed his father and wife, has been largely absent from the public eye since the attack on 28 February.

The funeral drew not only clergy and high officers, but also a wave of nationalistic fervour. Flags, red banners and placards—lines such as “We must rise” and “Death to Trump”—trembled in the wind. Protestors threw stones at a billboard hanging Trump’s face above a bridge, while many shouted slogans of revenge. In the midst of mourning, the city’s streets echoed with a vengeful chant that the main antagonist of the war was none other than the United States and Israel.

President Masoud Pezeshkian, who emerged from the crowds in his own unannounced capacity, posted on X that Khamenei taught Iranians that the “greatest asset” was national unity. He promised the nation would continue the “path of honour, progress, and glory.” A comment from Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz felt sharper, calling the death of Khamenei a consequence of the inevitable elimination of anyone who threatens Israel’s existence.

The funeral and the attendant protests may come at a moment when Iran and the United States have tentatively agreed to a preliminary cease‑fire that will allow the Strait of Hormuz to open again. Two months remain on a negotiation timeline to solidify a permanent truce and settle sanctions and nuclear commitments. The next weeks will see the funeral rites continue in Qom, move to the Iraqi cities of Karbala and Najaf, and finally finish at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, where Khamenei will be buried.