Iranians call for revenge as crowd mourns late Ayatollah Khamenei, whose nuclear quest brought war, during funeral

Iranians Gather in Tehran for Public Funeral of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei

Thousands of people attended a public mourning ceremony for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at the Grand Mosalla mosque in central Tehran on July 4, 2026. Khamenei, who was 89, was killed in a US-Israeli airstrike on his compound in February. The event marked the start of several days of official ceremonies.

Mourners carried signs and some chanted slogans calling for retaliation. One reported chant was “Our word is one. Revenge! Revenge!” The ceremony featured the casket of Khamenei, covered with an Iranian flag and displayed inside a glass enclosure, along with a black turban. Caskets of four family members killed in the same strike—his daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, and 14-month-old granddaughter—were also placed on the stage.

Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, who was named the new Supreme Leader after the strikes, did not appear at the event. He has not been publicly seen since February. The stage was arranged to resemble the setting used for Khamenei’s earlier public addresses at the destroyed compound.

Iranian officials projected attendance of 10 million to 15 million people across the multi-day observances. Services were postponed for several months after the strikes due to security considerations, according to statements from experts. The schedule includes a state funeral service on July 6 at the prayer hall of Imam Khomeini, a procession, an additional service on July 7 in Qom, and burial on July 9 at the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad.

The ceremonies overlapped with Independence Day observances in the United States. President Donald Trump stated during a July 4 speech at Mount Rushmore that the United States had paused certain operations to allow the mourning period. “We knocked the hell out of Iran and they’re dying to settle,” Trump said. “We gave them a week off for a funeral, isn’t that nice.”

The United States and Iran have conducted preliminary discussions aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz and addressing Iran’s nuclear program. Khamenei was appointed Supreme Leader following the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989. He participated in the formation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

A state newspaper published statements attributed to Khamenei that included threats directed at the United States as recently as the day before the ceremony. Dozens of foreign officials attended portions of the events on July 4, including Iranian parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. The United States did not send a representative.

Khamenei’s tenure included the establishment of underground nuclear facilities and the use of security forces during periods of domestic protest. Earlier funerals for senior Iranian figures, such as that of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989, drew large crowds and resulted in reported fatalities from crowd movement.

Banners displaying images of Khamenei were placed around the Grand Mosalla ahead of the ceremony. The site remained open for 24 hours to accommodate public attendance. Additional reports indicated that some participants held photographs of the late leader during the proceedings.

The multi-day events are scheduled to conclude with the burial in Mashhad. Iranian authorities have coordinated logistics for the expected volume of participants, drawing comparisons to previous large-scale public gatherings in the capital.