Iran Starts Possibly Largest Funeral Procession In History

Third Gulf War

Iran began six days of funeral ceremonies for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday, more than four months after the supreme leader was killed on the first day of the US-Israeli war on February 28. His flag-draped casket was carried into Tehran's Grand Mosalla for a two-day public farewell before a procession that will move through several Iranian cities and two Shia holy sites in Iraq, with burial set for July 9 in Tehran. This may be one of the largest funerals in history as far as I am aware.

Of course, the scale is deliberate, any dictatorship or totalitarian system would not pass up this opportunity to spin this as a potential show of unity. Officials expect between 15 and 20 million mourners, which would make it the largest state funeral in the country's history. Authorities have described one of the biggest logistical operations the Islamic Republic has ever mounted, mobilising government workers, unions and organised mourning groups, while the Basij and Revolutionary Guard manage security. Tehran has closed its airports and cleared private traffic near the route. Based off the videos I have seen, both land and air units are active all around Tehran ensuring that there are no gaps in defence. And like I said, the symbolism cuts in a particular direction. Tehran is staging the funeral less as mourning than as a demonstration that Khamenei's line held, framing a leader killed by foreign strikes as a vindicated martyr rather than a defeated one. And while we know his son Mojtaba was selected as Iran's new supreme leader in March – he is nowhere to be seen at today's funeral. This begs the question: Is he alive, dead, incapacitated and whether the IRGC has total control over the state? The IRGC and the ruling council is using this as an opportunity to reshape Iran as a new beginning, one that is more hardline than it was before. The timing is also diplomatically loaded. Indirect US-Iran talks, mediated by Qatar and Pakistan, have paused for the ceremonies and are expected to resume once they conclude. Foreign delegations attending include officials from Iraq, Russia, China and Turkey, alongside Pakistan's prime minister.