After a week of massive processions across Iran and Iraq, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was buried in the early hours of Friday morning at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, the holiest site for Shiites and his birthplace. The ceremony ended nearly four decades of his leadership and a week of official mourning against the backdrop of renewed conflict between Tehran and Washington. His son and declared successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, did not appear anywhere.
Khamenei was killed on February 28 in the first strikes of the war launched by the United States and Israel. A ceasefire was agreed last month, although tensions have resurfaced sharply since then.
Final procession
On Thursday, Khamenei’s coffin was carried through the crowded streets of Mashhad on a truck, accompanied by clerics wearing white turbans, while tens of thousands of black-clad mourners lined the road, waving Iranian flags, carrying pictures of the late leader and holding red banners bearing revolutionary slogans.
As the procession approached the shrine, the crowd chanted calls for revenge against President Donald Trump. “I swear on the blood of Supreme Leader Trump we will kill you!” Voices echoed from sections of the crowd, while some women held signs reading “Kill Trump.” Inside the shrine’s courtyard, chants of “Death to America” and funeral lamentations echoed over loudspeakers.
A helicopter lifted Khamenei’s coffin above the densely packed crowd in the final stage of the shrine. His eldest son, Mustafa, performed the funeral prayer before male mourners carried the flag-draped coffin inside. Many in the crowd carried candles, reached towards the coffin and wept. The official Iranian news agency IRNA confirmed that Khamenei and four of his family members who were killed alongside him were all buried by early Friday morning.
The body was transported through Tehran, the religious center of Qom, and the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala before reaching Mashhad, with large crowds attending each stage of the journey.
Mujtaba remains absent
The most closely watched detail of the week’s events was what was missing: an appearance by Mojtaba Khamenei, who was declared supreme leader by a clerical council in early March, one week after his father’s death. He has not appeared in public since the war began and has only issued written statements, without the authorities releasing any photos, video or audio.
High-ranking sources in Tehran told Reuters that Mojtaba was seriously injured in the same strike that killed his father, suffering facial deformities and serious injuries to his limbs. The sources said that he is recovering, but has not regained sufficient health to appear in public. State security services also limit his exposure due to concerns about possible future strikes by the United States.
The end of an era and its complications
Khamenei’s 37-year term ended at a moment of profound uncertainty for Iran. His rule was characterized by the unification of political, military, and economic power within the Office of the Supreme Leader, in close coordination with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The elected president and parliament were gradually marginalized. Mojtaba assumed the position with the support of the Revolutionary Guards, which many analysts now consider the dominant force in Iran’s strategic decision-making process.
His death also comes shortly after security forces suppressed nationwide protests against the Islamic Republic, which were largely driven by economic grievances amid crippling sanctions, in a crackdown that left thousands of protesters dead.
