US President Donald Trump said Washington would not attack Iran amid funeral processions for the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that drew tens of thousands of people in Tehran.
“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,” Mr Trump told US outlet Axios.
After a day lying in state indoors for senior Iranian leaders and foreign officials to visit, Mr Khamenei's coffin was put on display under glass, along with those of his daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law and 14-month-old granddaughter, in the courtyard of the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla.
There has been no public sighting or image released of Mr Khamenei's son and successor as supreme leader, Mojtaba, since he was said to have been injured in the same attack. Three other sons – Mostafa, Meysam and Masoud Khamenei – were seen praying behind the coffins in state TV footage.
Iranian security officials rejected Mojtaba Khamenei's request to attend the burial of his father and predecessor because they fear Israel will kill him or track him to his hideout, The New York Times reported.
He is believed to have asked to attend the burial in Mashhad on July 9 but was refused, the newspaper said, citing two unidentified Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members and an organiser of the funeral, which is being held over several days.
The younger Mr Khamenei's absence has triggered questions over his whereabouts and who is ruling in Iran. He has made written statements but hardline Iranian conservatives have pushed back on diplomacy and negotiation efforts with the US until he appears.
On Sunday, he issued a decree extending the term of Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei as head of the judiciary, state media reported. Mr Mohseni-Ejei was one of the top officials seen paying his respects at the funeral on Sunday, along with President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is also leading the negotiations with the US, and the head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Ahmad Vahidi.
Dressed in black and draped in the red, white and green flags of the Islamic Republic of Iran, mourners held up portraits of the late leader and his successor. In a show of public devotion to Iran's theocratic state and revolutionary zeal, the country is staging a week of mass funeral processions for the supreme leader killed in February in the opening air strikes of the war.
Mourners filed into the vast courtyard of the Grand Mosalla, beating their chests, chanting and waving banners. Women dressed in black chadors wore white visors or held umbrellas to shield themselves from the hot mid-morning sun.
Mr Trump told Axios he was surprised to see some Iranians crying at the funeral, saying he thought people hated the late Mr Khamenei. “Maybe it's fake tears,” he said.
Iran's embassy in Armenia reacted to his remarks in a post on X. “You don't understand these things because you have neither civilisation, nor history, nor honour.”
The US and Israel launched a regional conflict after striking Iran on February 28. Tehran retaliated in an unprecedented manner by striking neighbouring Gulf countries. Washington and Tehran have been engaged in weeks-long efforts to reach a lasting deal, triggering opposition from within Israel.
Mr Trump said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had requested a visit to the White House and that it could happen as soon as next week, after he returns from the Nato summit in Turkey. This would mark the first meeting between the two since February, when Mr Netanyahu reportedly presented the plan to strike Iran.
Symbolism
“Let us wail!” a compere encouraged the crowds through a loudspeaker. Chants of “Death to America” echoed throughout the huge prayer hall. The first day of the funeral ceremonies coincided with July 4 celebrations in the US for Independence Day.
The funeral is taking place at a critical moment for Iran, with its clerical rulers, backed by the military, buoyed by having survived the onslaught with their ruling system still in place, although many prominent figures have been killed. The war has been paused for a ceasefire under an agreement with Washington that Iran's authorities say will ultimately bring huge economic benefits, in line with what they describe as a victory over a superpower.
It remains difficult to assess how deeply public loyalty runs across a country of 90 million people beyond the displays of support.
After what authorities are billing as a massive procession in central Tehran on Monday, the remains will be taken to the seminary city of Qom, the centre of Iran's Shiite hierarchy, for ceremonies on Tuesday.
From there, the body will be flown to Iraq for ceremonies in the two Shiite holy shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala on Wednesday. The body will return to Iran on Thursday for another procession in Mashhad, to be buried near the tomb of another of the medieval Shiite imams.
Authorities plan to mobilise millions of people for the mass processions over the coming days, offering transport, food and lodging.
