Iran's multi-day state funeral for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei moved into its second day on July 5, 2026, with crowds in Tehran and across the country chanting "Death to America," "Death to Israel," and "Revenge, revenge" — while Iran's top officials gathered for funeral prayers and the government managed the security and ceremonial logistics of an event unprecedented in scale since Khomeini's 1989 burial.

The farewell ceremonies opened on Saturday, July 4, at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Mosalla, where Khamenei's coffin — alongside those of family members — was placed on public display, according to AP News. A procession had passed by the coffins a day earlier on July 3. CNN reported that by July 5 mourners were calling openly for defiance and revenge, with CBS News capturing footage of chest-beating and chants as the ceremonies began. Iran International documented crowds carrying red banners — a traditional Shia symbol of blood and the call for vengeance — and reported chants of "kill Trump" among government supporters gathered at the funeral.

Iranian MP Ali Khezrian gave the political framing explicit voice, stating from the funeral that the public "cry for revenge" was directed at what he called US and Israeli "state terrorism," per Iran International. Meanwhile, AP News reported thousands of government supporters in Yazd, led by Shia clerics, gathered on July 5 chanting "Death to America." The decentralized nature of the mourning — simultaneous crowds in Tehran, Yazd, and other cities — reflects both the state's organizational reach and its effort to demonstrate popular legitimacy at a moment of acute succession uncertainty.

IRNA, Iran's state news agency, consistently referred to Khamenei as the "martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution" in its July 5 coverage — language that frames his death as a consequence of enemy action rather than natural causes, and that carries significant doctrinal weight in the Islamic Republic's political theology. IRNA's own reporting made no mention of revenge chants or of the whereabouts of Khamenei's son and designated successor, Mojtaba Khamenei — an omission that itself signals the sensitivity surrounding the new Supreme Leader's public posture.

The Succession Shadow

The planned schedule places a funeral procession in Tehran on July 6, a second in Qom on July 7, and AP News reported that the body is also to be carried through cities in neighboring Iraq before burial at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad on July 9 — a route that underscores Khamenei's stature across the broader Shia world.

Whether Mojtaba Khamenei will appear at any point is unresolved and politically charged. NBC News reported, citing an Iranian official and a Middle Eastern source, that he was not expected to attend. i24NEWS reported, however, that the 56-year-old told officials he wished to attend the July 9 burial in Mashhad and recite the prayer for the dead — and that Iranian authorities feared Israel could use his presence there as a targeting opportunity.

That fear is not abstract. The term "martyred Leader" in IRNA's framing implies Khamenei was killed — a characterization that, if officially sustained, would make the question of retaliation a matter of state obligation under the Islamic Republic's own doctrine, not merely crowd sentiment. Mojtaba's physical exposure at a nationally televised burial, in that context, would carry genuine threat calculus for a security apparatus already operating under wartime conditions.

The broader picture on July 5 is of a state that is simultaneously performing grief, projecting defiance, and carefully managing the debut of a new Supreme Leader who has not yet appeared in public. The revenge rhetoric from the crowd and from the parliamentary floor is consistent with established Islamic Republic political liturgy during periods of crisis. Whether it translates into policy — military, proxy, or diplomatic — will depend on decisions being made well away from the Mosalla.