Younger Khamenei absent from father’s funeral amid doubts of his condition

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has still not attended the funeral of his father, Ali Khamenei, which started in Tehran on Saturday. 

Reports from Iranian officials and media claimed that Mojtaba had requested to attend the funeral procession in Tehran, or the burial in Mashhad, scheduled for July 9.

According to a New York Times report, the younger Khamenei’s request was denied over fears that Israel might attempt to assassinate him or track his movement back to his hiding spot. 

The younger Khamenei, who was announced as the new supreme leader in March, has not been seen publicly since he was reported injured following the Israeli airstrikes which killed his father, his wife and son, along with several other family members. 

The NYT also reported that Mojtaba Khamenei was absent from his wife’s memorial ceremony in Tehran on Wednesday. 

Ali Khamenei’s three other sons, Mostafa, Meysam, and Masoud Khamenei, were all seen at ceremonies on Sunday morning, broadcast on state television. Their attendance at the funeral proceedings followed appearances by all major regime figures, including several who had been targeted during the U.S.-Israeli military operations in Iran. 

Three sons of former Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei (Mostafa, Meysam, and Masoud) were seen praying beside his coffin

The new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei did not make an appearance pic.twitter.com/sfy2Q4O2Pm

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) July 5, 2026

Senior Iranian leaders, including Speaker of the Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, both participants in the U.S.-Iran negotiations, along with Islamic Revolutionary Guards commander Ahmad Vahidi, rumored to be holding the reins of the government, were all seen at the funeral Saturday and Sunday. 

🚨 Also present at today's farewell ceremony for Khamenei are the commander of the Quds Force, Ismail Qaani, and the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Ahmad Vahidi. pic.twitter.com/GMa47SpSgz

— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) July 5, 2026

Mojtaba Khamenei was wounded in his face and legs, according to reports out of Iran shortly after the announcement of his election as the new supreme leader. However, his failure to appear publicly since that point, along with the lack of any recent pictures of him or even an audio recording, has raised doubts among many that he could be incapacitated or dead. 

Following a report in Axios, in which U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly said he could take out all of Iran’s leadership in “one shot,” the IRGC responded with a threat of its own. 

"In these grand and instructive days, we warn the enemies of mighty Iran to refrain from any miscalculations and to know that any threat or aggression against our dear country will face harsh and regret-inducing responses from the sons of the Iranian nation in the armed forces,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by state media. 

The militia, which functions as kind of private army for the regime leadership,  said that Iran’s military is fully mobilized and on full operational alert, warning the IRGC remains "with fingers on the trigger.” 

President Trump told Axios he is following Khamenei’s funeral, and claimed the Iranians "are begging to make a deal.” 

"They are all there. One shot [and we can take them all out], but we are not going to do that because then we would have nobody to negotiate with," Trump reportedly told Axios during a phone call. 

During Independence Day statements, President Trump said he gave Iran a week off from the talks for Khamenei’s funeral. 

Trump on Iran: We knocked the hell out of Iran. They're dying to settle. They want to settle so badly. We gave them a week off for a funeral because we're nice. It's true. pic.twitter.com/2RVfvaUG3d

— Imtiaz Mahmood (@ImtiazMadmood) July 5, 2026

“We knocked the hell out of Iran. They’re dying to settle. They want to settle so badly. We gave them a week off for a funeral because we’re nice,” Trump said in comments at the celebration. 

Meanwhile, a performer at the funeral called for the death of President Trump for his role in Khamenei’s death, while leading chants of “Death to America!” 

شعار برای ترور دونالد ترامپ در مراسمی مرتبط با علی خامنه‌ای شنیده شد.
به‌گزارش این خبر، در میان ده‌ها هزار نفر یکی از سخنرانان گفت: «چرا مردی را که امامم را کشته نکشیم؟» و بعد افزود: «ترور ترامپ وظیفه ماست. هرگز انتقامتان را رها نکنید.» pic.twitter.com/rnPuw73CtF

— Masih (@Masihh) July 5, 2026

Mohammad Rasouli, a poet, called out, “Why shouldn’t we kill the man who killed my Imam?”  

“It would be a disgrace if we do not, Rasouli added. “Assassinating Trump is our duty. Never abandon your revenge.” 

At the same time, the new chief of the IRGC Navy, Rear Admiral Ali Ozmaei, said that “divine retribution” is not far away from Israel and the United States. 

“We are confident that divine retribution against the terrorist US and the illegitimate Zionist regime is not far away, and that the banner of truth will remain raised at the summit of dignity and power,” Ozmaei said in a statement. “Those who committed this crime believed they could halt the path of truth, but instead they exposed themselves to history’s condemnation and to the wrath and severe retribution of this nation.”