Overview
- State funerals that began in Tehran have moved through the Grand Mosalla and a long procession route and are due to stop in Qom and in Iraqi holy cities before burial in Mashhad later this week.
- The procession that moved through central Tehran on Monday drew huge crowds under strict security controls, and authorities declared national holidays to allow large turnout.
- State television showed three of Ali Khamenei’s sons at the rites but not Mojtaba Khamenei, who is reported by outside sources to have been seriously wounded in the February strikes and has only issued written communiqués.
- Iranian leaders have framed the ceremonies as a demonstration of cohesion to strengthen negotiating leverage during a fragile ceasefire and talks with the United States.
- Mojtaba’s absence leaves succession and day-to-day power arrangements unclear, increasing the role of senior politicians and IRGC figures and creating a potential source of internal friction to watch as the funerals conclude.