JamzNG Latest News, Gist, Entertainment in Nigeria
TEHERAN, Iran (AP) — Top Iranian officials and the brothers of the country’s new supreme leader appeared in public Sunday to attend the funeral service for the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, signaling renewed confidence in their safety as calls to kill U.S. President Donald Trump grow.
Their presence before hundreds of thousands of people in the capital Tehran would have been unthinkable during Iran’s war, whose opening airstrikes on February 28 killed the 86-year-old Khamenei, members of his family and other officials.
Israel also targeted people who appeared in public during the war, in at least one case likely using their public appearance to determine their position on carrying out attacks.
But still unseen is Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being injured in the airstrike that killed his father. Israel has threatened to kill him as he leads a theocracy that is now negotiating with the United States over a permanent end to the war and over Iran blocking traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global energy supplies.
Ziba Naderi, a 42-year-old nurse who attended Sunday’s funeral, said Iran should follow whatever Mojtaba Khamenei orders regarding the nation.
“I hear calls for revenge, but our leaders have to tell us what we need to do,” he said. “And we have to listen to him.”
Funerals include prayers and calls for revenge
Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani, a 97-year-old Shiite cleric, led prayers at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla for Khamenei and his late family members.
Get the latest national news
Get the latest Canadian news delivered to your inbox so you never miss a trending story.
Among them are Khamenei’s sons Masoud, Meysam and Mostafa, who have not been seen since the war. Revolutionary Guard chief Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, photographed for the first time since the war on Thursday, was seen in a crowd by Associated Press journalists, flanked by plainclothes security forces wearing black baseball caps.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Esmail Qaani, who led the Quds Force expedition, were also present.
Their appearance came as posters and graffiti at the Grand Mosalla called for the assassination of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mohammad Rasouli, a poet who hosted the event before the prayer, shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Addressing the crowd through a loudspeaker at the funeral, Rasouli asked, referring to Trump, “Why is the most asshole in the world still alive?”
The question drew cheers from the audience, and again when Rasouli said “the world is no longer a good place for” Trump. This was the first direct threat against Trump’s life by an official at the funeral.
Trump’s threats escalated at the funeral
The American president delivered a speech at the same time around the world in Washington, DC, on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of America’s founding.
“We have achieved tremendous success,” Trump said of the US military. “You look at Venezuela, you look at Iran. We wiped them out, wiped out their military.”
The crowd attending the funeral was much larger than the previous day’s attendance on Sunday. Black-clad mourners marched to the scene, carrying banners and flags to honor Khamenei and also call for Trump’s assassination.
“I came here to scream and take revenge,” said Gholamreza Sabooni, a 29-year-old man who works at a grocery store. “They killed our imam, we have to kill their leader, Trump.”
US federal authorities have been tracking Iranian threats against Trump and other government officials for years. This stems from Trump’s order to kill General Qassem Soleimani in 2020, who led the Quds Force. Iran has repeatedly denied planning to kill Trump, even though hardline propaganda tapes have long suggested Trump was in Tehran’s crosshairs.
Meanwhile, Trump promised to destroy Iranian civilization during war and other threats.
Funeral delays talks with US
Khamenei’s body will be transported to cities in Iran and neighboring Iraq, and authorities plan to carry his coffin and others through the streets of Tehran on Monday. Authorities have closed roads, airspace and daily life during a period of mourning, which will end Thursday when he is buried at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Khamenei’s birthplace.
Authorities did not provide attendance figures for Saturday and Sunday’s events. Other cities in Iran also held mourning ceremonies.
For now, talks on how to permanently end the war are still on hold until the funeral is over. Having a large turnout could prove crucial as Iran tries to leverage its hold on the Strait of Hormuz in negotiations as concerns remain that Israel will attack again.
“Our foreign policy should not be shaped in a way that allows the blood of our martyred leaders to be dishonored and other countries capable of such things, without any serious response from our government and diplomatic system,” said mourner Mohammad Reza Sharifi.
© 2026 Canadian Press
