Thousands of Iranians have poured into Tehran to mourn Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the second day of public farewell events, as chants of vengeance and anti‑American slogans echo through the crowds following the assassination of the country’s long‑time Supreme Leader.
Crowds numbering in the hundreds of thousands are streaming through the Grand Mosalla in Tehran to pay their respects, passing giant portraits and black banners that frame Khamenei’s coffin.
Organisers say tomorrow’s funeral procession in the capital is expected to draw millions, turning central Tehran into a vast river of mourners dressed mostly in black.
Officials have also announced that the bodies of Khamenei and members of his family killed in the same attack will be taken to the holy Iraqi cities of Karbala and Najaf.
After those rites, they are to be returned and buried in Mashhad, Khamenei’s birthplace and one of Shi’a Islam’s most revered centres.
Around the Mosalla complex, posters and graffiti call for retribution against foreign enemies, with particular fury directed at the United States and Israel.
Mourners Flood Farewell Events Across Iran
During one of the main events, poet Mohammad Rasouli, who emceed the gathering before funeral prayers, led the crowd in chants of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”
Addressing mourners over loudspeakers, he asked, referring to US President Donald Trump, “Why is the most bastard man in the world still alive?”
His question drew loud cheers, as the crowd repeated slogans vowing revenge for Khamenei’s killing and pledging loyalty to Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.
Among ordinary Iranians at the ceremony, anger and grief are mixing with calls to follow whatever course the new leadership sets.
Ziba Naderi, a 42‑year‑old nurse in attendance, said, “I heard the call for revenge, but our leader should say what we need to do, and we must listen to him.”
Her words captured a broader mood in the crowd: a desire for retaliation, but also a belief that any response must come under the guidance of the new Supreme Leader.
Trump’s Threats Draw Fiery Embassy Response
Debate over the funeral has intensified after remarks by President Trump in an interview with US outlet Axios about the multiday events for Khamenei.
He said he believed “no shots would be fired” during the ceremonies and boasted that he could “eliminate everyone” attending the funeral, but added that “there will be no one left to negotiate.”
Trump also expressed surprise at seeing Iranians crying, saying he thought people hated Khamenei.
Those comments drew a sharp reply from Iran’s embassy in Yerevan, Armenia, which posted a statement on X.
The embassy wrote, “People can be killed, but ideals cannot. You killed Ayatollah Khamenei, but in reality, you broke a perfume bottle whose scent spread everyplace. You don’t understand these things because you have neither civilization, nor history, nor honor.”
The metaphor of a broken perfume bottle, used to describe Khamenei’s legacy, is already being repeated at mourning events as a way of insisting that his influence will outlast his death.
For many Iranians, the mix of grief, fury and defiant rhetoric at the funeral is now shaping how the country will respond to the killing—and how far it might be willing to go in confronting the United States and Israel in the weeks ahead.
