Funeral held without Mujtaba

The three sons of Iran’s late former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, are tearfully seeing their father off on his final journey. However, among them is no Mujtaba Khamenei, the son who assumed the post of Supreme Leader after Khamenei. He has not appeared in public since being appointed to the leadership position. Questions over whether Mujtaba Khamenei is alive remain unanswered. According to reports, he was seriously injured in the attack in which his father was killed.

The farewell ceremony was held nearly five months after Khamenei’s death. More than 15 million people reportedly attended the mourning ceremony in Tehran. During the farewell ceremony for the late Ali Khamenei, Iranians chanted “Death to America.” Some also carried flags bearing the inscription “Kill Trump.”

The absence of Mujtaba Khamenei, Iran’s third Supreme Leader, from his father’s mourning ceremony has raised many doubts about whether he is alive. Some political analysts, however, see this as a carefully planned security measure. In their view, Mujtaba Khamenei’s absence from public view may be linked to the risk of a possible assassination attempt by Israel.

Iran bids farewell to Khamenei

Funeral ceremonies have begun in Iran for the country’s former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli airstrike in February this year. The farewell ceremony was held nearly five months after his death. The funeral had initially been planned for March, but it was postponed due to hostilities and a complex security situation.

In Tehran, hundreds of thousands of people are mourning in front of a coffin draped in the national flag. Some participants in the ceremony called for revenge against Israel and the United States. Others held flags bearing Khamenei’s image and shouted “revenge” and “Death to America.”

The ceremony is being held at the Grand Mosalla complex in Tehran. Coffins of family members killed in the airstrike have also been placed next to Khamenei’s coffin. Security measures have been tightened across the city. Participants in the ceremony were checked with metal detectors and subjected to personal searches, while armed police were on duty in surrounding streets. Volunteers distributed water and drinks to mourners due to the hot summer weather.

Khamenei’s sons also attended his funeral ceremony in Tehran on July 5. Footage broadcast by state television showed Mustafa, Meysam and Masoud Khamenei praying behind rows of coffins at the large Imam Khomeini Mosalla complex in Tehran. However, Khamenei’s third son, the country’s Supreme Leader Mujtaba Khamenei, was not among them. He has not appeared in public since being appointed to the post in March.

According to reports, Mujtaba Khamenei was also in Tehran, at the residence where his father Ali Khamenei was staying, during the attack on February 28, 2026. His wife, Zahra Haddad-Adel, and one of Khamenei’s two daughters, Bushra Khamenei’s child — the Supreme Leader’s grandchild, Mohammadi Golpayegani — were also inside the residence. None of them survived the missile strikes. According to unofficial reports, Mujtaba Khamenei survived because he left the building a few minutes before the missiles struck. However, he was seriously wounded.

On July 5, tens of thousands of mourners, including military personnel, religious students and ordinary citizens, came to the Mosalla complex to pay tribute to Khamenei and his family. They carried flags bearing slogans calling for revenge against the United States and Israel. Others offered collective prayers at the complex named after Iran’s first Supreme Leader, Ruhollah Khomeini.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf also took part in the funeral prayer behind the coffins. Masoud Khamenei was seen wiping away tears with a keffiyeh, a scarf seen as a symbol of solidarity with Palestinians.

It was noted that thousands of people were flowing into central Tehran. Some cried, while others beat their chests in mourning. According to Tehran Metro, 7 million passengers were transported from the night of July 5 to the morning of July 6.

Who attended Khamenei’s funeral?

A delegation led by Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis Nuriddin Ismoilov attended the official ceremony in Tehran on behalf of Uzbekistan. They paid tribute to the memory of Iran’s late former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The National Leader of the Turkmen people, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, also attended the funeral ceremony. Iran’s Deputy Interior Minister and head of the headquarters organizing the mourning events, Ali Akbar Pourjamshidian, said that more than 30 countries and religious leaders from over 90 countries were ready to participate in the farewell ceremonies.

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan also attended the ceremony. Verses from the Quran were recited for each foreign delegation that arrived for Khamenei’s farewell ceremony.

Putin’s special envoy Dmitry Medvedev and the delegation accompanying him also paid tribute to the memory of Iran’s former leader. The family of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, one of Iran’s strongest supporters during the U.S. and Israeli attacks, also attended the mourning ceremony. Videos showed them crying and praying for the Supreme Leader.

According to Iranian state media, a large mourning procession will be held in central Tehran tomorrow, July 7. After that, Khamenei’s body will be taken to the city of Qom, where ceremonies will continue on July 8. The body will be transported by land in a special vehicle. It will then be taken to Shiite shrines in the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala. On July 10, another mourning ceremony will be held in Mashhad, where Khamenei will be buried near the shrine of Imam Reza.