About 60 military commanders who were killed in Israeli attacks are being held in Iran for state funerals, with thousands attending the ceremony in Tehran’s capital.
The ceremony, which started at 8am (04:30 GMT) on Saturday, showed footage of people waving Iranian flags, wearing black, and holding images of the slain heads of the Revolutionary Guard, other top commanders, and nuclear scientists.
Coffins draped in Iranian flags and depicting portraits of the fallen commanders in uniform were seen in images from central Tehran.
Last weekend, the United States launched strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, joining its allies Israel’s 12-day battle with Iran.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, downplayed the US strikes, accusing Trump of “exaggerating events in unusual ways,” and rejecting US claims that Iran’s nuclear program had been delayed by decades. Both Israel and Iran made the claim that they had won.
As the crowds chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” the bodies of the Guard’s chief general, General Hossein Salami, the head of the Guard’s ballistic missile program, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, and others were being driven on trucks along the capital’s Azadi Street.
On the opening day of the conflict, which Israel claimed was intended to end Iran’s nuclear program, Salami and Hajizadeh were both killed.
In addition to the deaths of Mohammad Bagheri, a major-general in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, a top nuclear scientist, were also at the forefront of Israeli attacks.
The ceremony on Saturday featured four women and four children, according to Iranian state television, which was the first public funeral for top commanders since the ceasefire.
To allow public servants to attend the ceremonies, authorities shut down government buildings.
Word war
The state funeral comes a day after Khamenei attacked US President Donald Trump for making the claim in a video that Iran has won the war on his Truth Social platform.
Trump added that he would not allow Israel, the US Armed Forces, or Hamenei to “terminate his life” and that he “EXACTLY knew where he (Khamenei) was sheltered.
He claimed to have been working on the possible lifting of Iranian sanctions in recent days, but Khamenei’s comments led him to drop that claim.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded to Trump’s criticism of the situation on Saturday by saying, “President Trump should put the disrespectful and unacceptable tone toward Iran’s Supreme Leader aside.”
Araghchi’s comments were described as “a most anticipated reaction” to Trump’s social media posts, according to Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar, who is based in Tehran.
While the majority of Iranians view him as primarily a religious leader, the Iranian government says that he is simply the head of state, not the military leader, as the constitution teaches.
In Shia political theology, Serdar also referred to Khamenei’s position as being a divine role above the surface.
We are aware that a sizable number of Shia seek his guidance, Serdar said, not just in Iran but all over the world. Anyone who is aware of this would be very cautious when criticizing him in public and especially when discrediting him for lying would be careful.
No plans for nuclear talks
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, was not immediately visible in the funeral broadcast.
Khamenei, who hasn’t made a public appearance since the war’s start, has in the past held funeral services over fallen commanders’ bodies before the ceremony’s public viewing, which later aired on state television.
Israel claimed that it had hit eight nuclear-related facilities and more than 720 military installations during the 12 days leading up to the ceasefire, killing 11 nuclear scientists and 30 Iranian commanders.
More than 550 ballistic missiles were fired at Israel by Iran, the majority of which were intercepted, but those that passed through, according to Israeli figures, caused damage in many areas and resulted in the death of 28 people.
At least 627 civilians were killed in the Israeli-led attacks on Iran, according to Tehran’s Ministry of Health and Medical Education.
Source: Aljazeera
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