Iran has sent off its longtime supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with a massive funeral procession in Tehran, drawing millions of Iranians, after his funeral was postponed for more than four months due to the ensuing war. Khamenei was killed on February 28, 2026, in a joint US-Israeli airstrike. The ceremony comes amid a fragile ceasefire and a sharp ultimatum from US President Donald Trump, who announced a freeze on peace talks until July 9. He warned Iran that the US would either make a final deal or "finish the job" by military means.
A million-strong march and calls for revenge in Tehran
The mourning ceremonies, which began on Saturday and will continue until July 9, turned the streets of the Iranian capital into a sea of black clothes and red flags symbolizing blood revenge.
- Anti-American sentiment: The coffins of Khamenei and four of his relatives were carried by truck along a 10-kilometer route. The crowd held up banners with the inscriptions “Kill Trump“, threw stones at billboards with the American president's face and chanted the traditional slogans “Death to America“ and “Death to Israel“.
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