Mashhad (Iran) (AFP) – Iran on Thursday was laying to rest its former supreme leader Ali Khamenei over four months after his killing in a US-Israeli airstrike, as Tehran’s reports of new American attacks and Iranian hits on US allies raised fears of a return to all-out war.
In tumultuous scenes, Khamenei’s coffin was carried aloft into the shrine in his home city of Mashhad in eastern Iran as a vast sea of people waited outside and listened to prayers but with still no sign of his son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei appearing in public. The burial came on the second day of attacks between the decades-old foes, with Iranian officials reporting that US strikes killed 17 people and state media saying one targeted a railway line between Tehran and Mashhad, where Khamenei’s burial is being held. American strikes also hit the perimeter of an Iranian nuclear power plant, officials said. The Islamic republic said it had resumed its attacks targeting US assets in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar, while sirens blared in Jordan — another US 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 his hometown of Mashhad was being closely watched for signs of his son Mojtaba Khamenei, who has yet to appear in public since being appointed. Parliament speaker and chief negotiator in talks with the US, 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. The area around the shrine of Imam Reza was still bustling with a huge crowd in the evening, to the sound of religious chants, as the burial ceremony went on late into the night.
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. Such were the crowds that the body was to be transferred by helicopter to a holy shrine for burial, state television said.
The United States earlier 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. Iranian state media reported Thursday that a projectile hit a military headquarters on the outskirts of Bushehr, but a US defense official said that the US military was not currently carrying out any strikes on Iran. State media said the US targeted a section of the Tehran-Mashhad railway 55 kilometres (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 interceptor 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 security tensions, 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.
The Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil and gas corridor, remains a key point of contention, 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
