Iran buries Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as US strikes resume and son stays absent

Final journey

The body of Ali Khamenei, who led Iran for nearly 37 years, was interred at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace. State television showed the coffin, draped in an Iranian flag with his black turban, being carried inside. The ceremony, originally scheduled for dawn, was postponed to the afternoon without official explanation. Governor Hassan Hosseini had said authorities expected 15 million people to attend – five times the city's population. Under scorching 40°C heat, chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" rang out.

An absent successor

Mojtaba Khamenei, named the new Supreme Leader in March following his father's killing, has not made any public appearance since his appointment. He was visibly missing from all six days of funeral processions, which took the coffin to holy Shiite sites in Iraq and Iran. His continued invisibility is raising questions about his health and the real power dynamics in Tehran.

Ceasefire broken

The burial took place as the fragile truce between Iran and the US collapsed. On Wednesday night, the US military struck some 90 military targets in southern Iran, aiming to reduce Tehran's grip on the Strait of Hormuz. In response, Iran said it hit American bases and allied sites in Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain. Both sides blame each other for restarting hostilities, which had been paused by an agreement on 17 June that followed an April ceasefire. The escalation began on 7 July, when Iran targeted three commercial tankers in the strait.

The ceasefire is terminated. They are sick people I don't want to deal with anymore.

Strikes near nuclear site

A military installation near Bushehr, the city that hosts Iran's only operating nuclear plant, was struck on Thursday evening, according to an Iranian official. The US Defense Department denied carrying out any strikes "in recent hours." Iran also accused Washington of hitting civilian infrastructure, including bridges and the 800 km rail line between Tehran and Mashhad, to disrupt the funeral.

These last two nights, the noise has been extremely loud.

Broader tensions

The US-Israel war that began with the 28 February airstrike that killed Khamenei has subsided into an uneasy standoff. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with President Trump on Thursday, and the Wall Street Journal reported that Israeli intelligence shared information about an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Trump. The region remains on edge as the US insists it left the door open for further talks.