Mourners call for vengeance on Trump during Khamenei’s funeral procession

FE Team | Published: July 07, 2026 00:12:30

TEHRAN, July 06 (Agencies): Crowds of Iranians marched through the streets of Tehran on Monday in a funeral procession for slain leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the biggest day yet in a week of massive memorial ceremonies demonstrating the grip of surviving clerical leaders. Drone footage on state television showed many tens of thousands of people crammed into a boulevard in central Tehran.
The coffins of the slain leader and four of his family members were driven in a large truck through the streets, while fire hoses sprayed water from above to keep the marchers cool.
As they passed under a bridge mourners hurled stones at a billboard hung from above showing US President Donald Trump with a bullet aimed at his head.
"The US killed our father," it read. "We won't let you go!"
The crowds waved Iranian flags and red banners with a slogan calling out to the "avengers of Khamenei," adapting a phrase at the heart of Shiite Islam since the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad was killed in battle in the seventh century.
Iran's theocracy planned to see large crowds attend the ceremony across the city to show popular support for the government.
The 1989 funeral of his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, drew some 10 million people, according to state news agency IRNA, and crowd surges killed more than 10 people and injured over 10,000.
Thousands had filled the Grand Mosalla on Sunday, where they paid their respects to Khamenei and four family members, all killed on February 28 in Israeli airstrikes based on US intelligence.