Final Day Of Khamenei’s Funeral: Will Iran’s New Supreme Leader Finally Step Into Public View?
Final Day Of Khamenei’s Funeral: Will Iran’s New Supreme Leader Finally Step Into Public View? Published By, Last Updated: July 09, 2026, 09:56 IST As
Final Day Of Khamenei’s Funeral: Will Iran’s New Supreme Leader Finally Step Into Public View? Published By, Last Updated: July 09, 2026, 09:56 IST As Ali Khamenei’s funeral reaches its final stage in Mashhad, attention remains on whether his successor Mojtaba will make his first public appearance. Rapid Read Mojtaba, the son of the late ayatollah, has not been seen in public since assuming the role. (AFP) The weeklong funeral ceremonies for Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei are set to conclude on Thursday, with his body being taken to the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, the northeastern city where he was born, for burial. But as the funeral reaches its final stage, the focus has shifted to another question: will Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, make his first public appearance? Mojtaba, the son of the late ayatollah, has not been seen in public since assuming the role. His absence has sparked speculation about his health and raised questions over who is currently exercising authority in Tehran. According to CNN, Mojtaba is believed to have been wounded in the joint US-Israeli strike that killed his father, mother, wife and several other relatives.
Since the war began in late February, he is said to have remained out of public view, communicating only through written statements carried by Iranian media and attributed to him. The absence has become even more striking after three of Ali Khamenei’s other sons — Mostafa, Masoud and Meysam — made a rare public appearance at the funeral ceremonies in Tehran on Sunday. Any public appearance by Mojtaba would carry major political and symbolic weight, particularly at a time when Iran is trying to project continuity after Khamenei’s killing. Iran’s Islamic Propagation Coordination Council announced that a memorial ceremony will be held on Friday in Qom “under the auspices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Imam Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei," Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported. It remains unclear whether the announcement signals that Mojtaba will attend in person. The ceremony may simply be held on his behalf. Still, Qom would be a significant place for such an appearance. The city is one of Iran’s most important religious centres and the heart of Shia scholarship in the country. Mojtaba also studied there.
On Tuesday, large crowds gathered in Qom for Khamenei’s funeral ceremonies. The funeral has also featured rare public appearances by senior security figures, including Ahmad Vahidi, the new commander of the Revolutionary Guards, and Esmail Qaani, the head of the IRGC’s Quds Force. But former presidents Mohammad Khatami, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Rouhani have not so far been seen at the ceremonies, despite the authorities trying to present a united front. The funeral has also become a display of public mobilisation and defiance. Delegations from Hamas and Hezbollah attended the ceremonies, while Iranian officials and mourners repeatedly spoke of revenge for Khamenei’s killing. The ceremonies come as the wider conflict has again escalated, with Trump declaring at the NATO summit in Ankara that the ceasefire with Iran is “over" after fresh US strikes on Iranian targets. Trump also said he believed he was Iran’s top target. “I’m number one on the kill list for Iran," he said, even as funeral ceremonies continued to carry calls for revenge. Iran’s army chief Amir Hatami, meanwhile, said he had vowed to Mojtaba Khamenei that the military would “not let go of the collar of those who killed" his father.
The BriefWire