Beside the coffin of the assassinated former Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a packed Tehran prayer hall on Sunday, a poet declared: “I swear by your blood; Trump’s murder is our responsibility.”
The scripted remark by Mohammad Rasouli, delivered at a poetry recitation just before the funeral prayers, drew cheers from tens of thousands of mourners gathered at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla. “Why is the most bastard man in the world still alive?” he asked. “It would be a disgrace if we did not.”
“At Iran's funeral for slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei, a poet called for Trump's killing as successor Mojtaba stayed away.”
Khamenei was killed along with other family members on the first day of the US and Israeli war on 28 February. His funeral, delayed because of the war, has been transformed into a week-long political spectacle melding grief with demands for vengeance.
Conspicuously absent from the proceedings was Khamenei’s second son and successor, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since his appointment in early March. Rumours that he was wounded in the same air strikes that killed his father have fuelled speculation about his condition. His other three sons – Masoud, Mostafa and Meysam – all attended, standing beside the coffin alongside President Masoud Pezeshkian and Revolutionary Guards chief Ahmad Vahidi.
The funeral ceremonies have been carefully choreographed against a backdrop of fear that Israel may try to assassinate Mojtaba as well. A fragile ceasefire between Iran and the US-Israeli alliance is holding while talks on a permanent peace deal continue, though both sides have warned they are ready to resume fighting.
US President Donald Trump, quoted by Axios, said peace talks had been paused for a week for the funeral events. He noted that with many senior Iranian officials attending, Washington could take them all out with “one shot” – but added: “We are not going to do that because then we would have nobody to negotiate with.” Trump also said he had been surprised to see Iranians crying, suggesting “maybe it’s fake tears.”
Mourner Zahra Safaei, 50, rejected the claim. “We did not make a revolution 47 years ago to shed fake tears,” she told Reuters.
The main funeral prayers were led by Ayatollah Ja’far Sobhani, a 97-year-old cleric from Qom. Iranian authorities say 12 to 20 million people are expected to attend ceremonies spanning Iran and neighbouring Iraq before Khamenei is buried in his hometown of Mashhad on Thursday.
Sunday was declared a public holiday. Later, Khamenei’s body will be moved from the Grand Mosalla ahead of a procession through the capital on Monday. Mohammed Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of the national security council, said: “People are shouting two slogans in farewell to their leader: resistance against enemies and revenge for the blood of the martyred leader of Iran.”