Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, did not attend his father's funeral

Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, did not appear at the public mourning ceremonies in Tehran held for the funeral of his father, the slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

State television showed the leader’s three other sons—Mostafa, Meysam, and Masoud—praying near the coffins in the courtyard of the Imam Khomeini Mosalla religious complex. According to sources close to him, the new head of state’s absence is due to injuries to his face and legs sustained during the U.S.-Israeli airstrike on February 28, which killed his father and four other family members.

The official mourning ceremonies are taking place against the backdrop of a recently reached fragile ceasefire that has suspended the four-month war. At Sunday’s farewell ceremony, attended by tens of thousands of citizens, as well as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, religious leaders announced a week-long program of large-scale processions. After the events in Tehran conclude, the body of the late leader is scheduled to be taken to the holy city of Qom, then flown to the Iraqi Shiite centers of Najaf and Karbala, and finally laid to rest in Mashhad on Thursday.

Source: Reuters.

Funeral ceremonies for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei began on July 3; U.S. President Donald Trump had announced his death more than four months ago. The coffins of the Ayatollah and his family members were displayed for the farewell ceremony.

According to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Iranian ambassador to Moscow, Beijing will be represented at the ceremony by He Wei, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, while Russia will be represented by Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Security Council.