Mashhad (Iran) (AFP) – Iran on Friday laid to rest its former supreme leader Ali Khamenei over four months after his killing in an airstrike, as two days of US and Iranian attacks raised fears of a return to all-out war. Khamenei’s flag-covered coffin was carried aloft into the shrine of Imam Reza in his home city of Mashhad in eastern Iran as a sea of people waited outside and listened to prayers, with no sign of a public appearance by his son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei. The “body of the martyred leader of the Islamic Revolution was buried in the memorial hall of the shrine of Imam Reza,” state broadcaster IRIB reported.
The burial came after a second day of tit-for-tat attacks by Washington and Tehran’s forces, with Iranian officials reporting that US strikes killed 17 people and state media saying one targeted a railway line between Tehran and Mashhad. The Islamic Republic said it had resumed attacks targeting US assets in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar, while sirens blared in Jordan — another American ally — where the military said it had intercepted eight missiles launched from Iran. Khamenei was killed alongside close family members on the first day of the US-Israeli war against Iran on February 28.
The last of a marathon six days of funeral ceremonies, Khamenei’s burial in Mashhad was closely watched for signs of Mojtaba Khamenei, who has yet to appear in public since being appointed. Parliament speaker and chief negotiator in talks with the United States, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, powerful chief justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, and Khamenei’s eldest son, Mostafa Khamenei, were all present at the shrine, with some senior figures weeping over Khamenei’s coffin, state TV images showed. But as on other days of the funeral process, there was no sign of Mojtaba Khamenei, who since being named has only communicated through written statements and is said to have been wounded in the February 28 strikes.
Crowds of men and women clad in black, many urging vengeance against US President Donald Trump, had massed in Mashhad against the backdrop of slogans including: “Hey Trump we will kill you,” written in English, AFP correspondents said. The Wall Street Journal meanwhile reported Thursday, based on anonymous sources, that Israel told the United States that their intelligence had detected a new Iranian plot to kill Trump.
The United States on Thursday targeted the perimeter of Iran’s only civilian nuclear plant with a strike, Iranian state media reported, citing the deputy governor of Bushehr province. State media also reported Thursday that a projectile hit a military headquarters on the outskirts of Bushehr, but a US defense official said the US military was not currently carrying out strikes on Iran. State media said the United States targeted a section of the Tehran-Mashhad railway 55 kilometers (34 miles) from Mashhad, forcing the closure of the line. Passengers were transferred to buses.
Iran’s army said it had targeted a Patriot missile system in Kuwait, an early warning system in Qatar, and fuel tanks in Bahrain with drones, as part of its attacks on US bases in the region. But a US defense official said the dozens of missiles and drones fired by Iran were either intercepted or caused no significant damage, with no injuries to American personnel. In a sign of the tense environment, at least one fighter jet escorted the plane carrying Khamenei’s coffin to its final burial in Mashhad, footage from the supreme leader’s website showed.
Following Israel’s June 2025 war against Iran and this year’s conflict, Defence Minister Israel Katz warned at a military ceremony on Thursday that Israel was prepared to attack Iran for a “third time” if needed, vowing to do so “with even greater force.” “We are preparing for every scenario,” added Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose office said he spoke with Trump on Thursday, with the US president providing an update on “American moves in the Gulf.” The Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil and gas corridor, remains a key point of contention between the two sides, with Tehran insisting on control of the waterway despite it being open to free passage before the war began.
The Iranian military hit at least three ships in recent days, prompting extensive US strikes against Iranian targets from Tuesday. Traffic through the strait has fallen sharply since Wednesday, especially through the UN-backed Omani route, according to data from maritime tracking firm Kpler, after vessels were attacked earlier this week.
© 2024 AFP
