The funeral of Iranian dictator Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is going precisely as expected. The week-long ceremony opened with state-managed crowds chanting anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans. According to The New York Times, “Throughout the morning, the crowd broke into chants of ‘Death to America’ and ‘God’s curse be on Israel.”
Khamenei’s black turban was placed atop the flag-draped coffin during the public display. A crowd of thousands of regime supporters gathered at Tehran’s open-air Grand Mosalla complex to view the coffin, screaming chants for America’s destruction and President Donald Trump’s assassination.
The irony loomed large over the rage-filled event. The Grand Mosalla is the same venue where Khamenei, during his 37-year reign, ceremonially ended weekly Friday prayers with chants of ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel’. Having spent his entire political life calling for ‘death’ to America and Israel, Khamenei was ultimately killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli strike in the opening minutes of the war he so longed for.
“Tens of thousands of mourners streamed on foot to the Grand Mosalla religious complex in Tehran on Saturday as Iran mourned its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in an airstrike on the first day of the U.S.-Israeli war,” The Washington Post reported. “One sign declared “Kill Trump” in white lettering against a red backdrop.”
Mourners waved red flags, a symbol of jihad and vengeance in Shia Islam:
While most regime henchmen and top Islamic Guard (IRGC) commanders showed up for the rage-fest, Mojtaba Khamenei, the former Supreme Leader’s eldest son and the regime’s newly installed leader, was nowhere to be seen.
Khamenei Jr’s absence was a huge disappointment for his fans, who had been hoping for his first public appearance as the Grand Ayatollah. Reports suggest he has been severely injured, or even badly disfigured, in an Israeli strike. Since then, the Iranians have neither seen nor heard from their new Supreme Leader for nearly four months.
The NYT reports:
Many of Mr. Khamenei’s followers had hoped to finally get a glimpse of him at the funeral. But concerns about any Israeli attempts to assassinate Mr. Khamenei or track his movements to discover his hide-out made his security team reject the idea of his attendance, according to two members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps who are familiar with the planning and did not want to be identified by name because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Delegations from China, Russia, and several Islamist and Muslim-majority countries showed up for the ceremony. Iran-sponsored Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist groups sent representatives to Tehran, while Western countries stayed away from the event.
“Foreign delegations also arrived in force, including representatives from Russia, China, Pakistan, Iraq and other non-Western states, as well as senior delegations from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad,” Israel’s i24NEWS noted. “No Western leaders attended the ceremony, which Tehran is staging as a show of loyalty to the Islamic Republic and defiance toward its enemies.”
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