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Prayers Offered for Iran's Khamenei on Day Two of Funeral Ceremonies

Mourners gather at the Grand Mosalla to pay their final respects to Iran's slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei at the start of his funeral ceremonies in Tehran on July 4, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) /
Mourners gather at the Grand Mosalla to pay their final respects to Iran's slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei at the start of his funeral ceremonies in Tehran on July 4, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) /
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Prayers Offered for Iran's Khamenei on Day Two of Funeral Ceremonies

Mourners gather at the Grand Mosalla to pay their final respects to Iran's slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei at the start of his funeral ceremonies in Tehran on July 4, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) /
Mourners gather at the Grand Mosalla to pay their final respects to Iran's slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei at the start of his funeral ceremonies in Tehran on July 4, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) /

Prayers were held Sunday over the casket of Iran's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, the second day of funeral ceremonies that have drawn huge crowds to pay their final respects in Tehran.

Khamenei ruled the Iranian republic from 1989 until he was killed aged 86 in an airstrike on the first day of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28.

Sunday's service at Tehran's Grand Mosalla complex was led by prominent Shia cleric Ja'far Sobhani, a 97-year-old scholar who teaches in seminaries at the holy city of Qom.

Khamenei's son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei, who is said to have been wounded in the February 28 attack, has not appeared in public since being named supreme leader and was notably absent from the funeral prayers.

The late supreme leader's other three sons, Masoud, Mostafa and Meysam, were in attendance.

Sunday was declared a public holiday across Iran, and later in the day, Khamenei's body will be moved from the Grand Mosalla complex where it is lying in state in preparation for processions through the capital on Monday.

The vast religious complex and surrounding streets were packed with mourners on Sunday morning, AFP journalists saw.

With temperatures set to exceed 35C, mourners carrying Iranian flags and portraits of Khamenei, as they made their way to the Grand Mosalla, were handed refreshments.

President Masoud Pezeshkian attended the ceremony alongside senior officials including parliament speaker and Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, state television footage showed.

Khamenei's coffin, draped in the Iranian flag and topped with his black turban, was placed alongside the coffins of four relatives also killed in the February strikes, including an infant granddaughter.

Authorities have said they expect more than 10 million people to take part in ceremonies in Tehran.

- Allies in attendance -

After five weeks of intense hostilities, the Middle East war is on hold after a ceasefire and an initial accord with the US. But both Washington and Tehran have warned they are ready to resume fighting at any time.

Khamenei's funeral is being viewed outside Iran as a test of support for the government following mass protests before the war in January that rights groups say were quelled by a crackdown that left thousands dead.

"What is observed today in the emotions, tears, and passionate presence of the people in various scenes is the most telling sign of his position among the Iranian nation and the free people of the world," Pezeshkian said in a speech Saturday, accusing Israel in particular of acting as a "destabilizing factor" in the Middle East.

"Muslims have shown that they will not surrender to oppression and bullying," he added.

Khamenei had long pursued a course of confrontation with the West, and Tehran for years has provided support to anti-US and anti-Israel armed groups around the region, including Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

Delegations from both groups met with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday, state media reported, while representatives of Yemen's Houthis and Hamas ally Palestinian Islamic Jihad were also in attendance at the funeral.

After Monday's procession, Khamenei's coffin will be moved on Tuesday to Qom, then on Wednesday to neighboring Iraq, before the burial on Thursday in his northeastern hometown of Mashhad.

Significant security measures have been imposed in the capital, and official media has warned attendees of the risk of crowd crushes.

Organizers have also taken measures to mitigate a heatwave that may nudge 40C in Tehran over the next few days, with crowds on Saturday sprayed with mists of water to keep cool at the Grand Mosalla complex.

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World

Three Sons of Iran’s Slain Leader Khamenei Appear at Funeral, Not His Successor

A mural of slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the day mourners attend a public farewell ceremony to pay their respects to Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 in Israeli and US airstrikes, at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla, in Tehran, Iran, July 5, 2026. (Reuters)
A mural of slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the day mourners attend a public farewell ceremony to pay their respects to Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 in Israeli and US airstrikes, at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla, in Tehran, Iran, July 5, 2026. (Reuters)
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Three Sons of Iran’s Slain Leader Khamenei Appear at Funeral, Not His Successor

A mural of slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the day mourners attend a public farewell ceremony to pay their respects to Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 in Israeli and US airstrikes, at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla, in Tehran, Iran, July 5, 2026. (Reuters)
A mural of slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the day mourners attend a public farewell ceremony to pay their respects to Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 in Israeli and US airstrikes, at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla, in Tehran, Iran, July 5, 2026. (Reuters)

Three sons of slain Iranian leader Ali Khamenei prayed beside his coffin and those of four other family members on Sunday, but Mojtaba, the son who has succeeded him as Iran's supreme leader, did not make an appearance.

State TV showed Mostafa, Meysam and Masoud Khamenei praying behind the coffins laid out in the vast courtyard of Tehran's Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla, a sprawling religious complex.

In a show of public devotion to the theocratic state and revolutionary zeal, Iran is staging a week of mass funeral processions for Khamenei, including taking his remains to ‌Shiite religious ‌sites in neighboring Iraq.

After a day lying in state indoors ‌for ⁠senior Iranian leaders and ⁠foreign officials to visit, Khamenei's coffin was displayed outdoors on Saturday under glass, along with those of his daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law and 14-month-old granddaughter.

There has still been no public sighting or image released of Mojtaba, said to have been injured in the attack that killed his father and the other family members on February 28, when Israel and the US bombed Iranian targets at the start of the war.

Mojtaba Khamenei's face was disfigured and he ⁠suffered a significant injury to one or both legs, people close ‌to his inner circle told Reuters.

A ceasefire has suspended ‌the four-month-old war 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.

US ‌President Donald Trump told the Axios news website that peace talks had been paused for a week for the events surrounding the funeral.

On Sunday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf prayed behind the coffins. Masoud Khamenei was seen crying and wiping his tears as an imam recited ⁠funeral prayers.

Crowds of ⁠Iranians, many weeping and some beating their chests, have thronged the Mosalla, including overnight. The Iranian metro railway network said it had clocked 7 million trips from late on Saturday to Sunday morning as people flocked to the center.

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 center of Iran's Shiite hierarchy, for ceremonies on Tuesday.

From there the body will be flown to Iraq for ceremonies in the cities of Najaf and Karbala on Wednesday. It will return to Iran on Thursday for another procession in Mashhad.

Authorities plan to mobilize millions of people for big processions over the coming days, offering transport, food and lodging.

World

China, Russia to Hold Joint Naval Drills

The drills come about two months after Russia's President Vladimir Putin visited China. (Reuters file)
The drills come about two months after Russia's President Vladimir Putin visited China. (Reuters file)
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China, Russia to Hold Joint Naval Drills

The drills come about two months after Russia's President Vladimir Putin visited China. (Reuters file)
The drills come about two months after Russia's President Vladimir Putin visited China. (Reuters file)

China and Russia will hold their annual joint naval exercises this month and conduct patrols in unspecified areas of the Pacific Ocean, Beijing's defense ministry said on Sunday.

Moscow and Beijing share close economic and diplomatic ties, with their relations strengthened by shared opposition to a global order dominated by Washington.

The Chinese and Russian militaries have held regular joint exercises in recent years, a partnership that Western and some other governments view with suspicion as Moscow's war on Ukraine grinds on.

The naval forces of both countries will take part in the "Joint Sea-2026" exercise in "waters and airspace" off Qingdao, a major military port and seaside resort in China's east, a defense ministry statement said.

"Following the exercise, some forces from both sides will conduct a joint maritime patrol in relevant areas of the Pacific Ocean," the statement said.

"This arrangement is... aimed at jointly responding to security challenges and safeguarding regional peace and stability."

The statement did not provide details about the scale of the mobilization.

The drills come about two months after Russia's President Vladimir Putin visited China.

Putin said at the time relations had reached an "unprecedentedly high level", while Chinese leader Xi Jinping hailed an "unyielding" partnership.

Beijing and Moscow have held their "Joint Sea" exercises since 2012, with last year's edition near the eastern Russian port of Vladivostok also followed by joint patrols in the Pacific.

China has never denounced Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine but Beijing insists it is a neutral party, regularly calling for peace talks.

Many of Ukraine's Western allies, including the United States, believe that Beijing has provided support to Moscow's war effort.

World

Türkiye Eyes F110 Fighter Jet Engines as Trump Comes to Town

Turkey and NATO flags wave ahead of the NATO summit, in Ankara, Türkiye, July 4, 2026. (Reuters)
Turkey and NATO flags wave ahead of the NATO summit, in Ankara, Türkiye, July 4, 2026. (Reuters)
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Türkiye Eyes F110 Fighter Jet Engines as Trump Comes to Town

Turkey and NATO flags wave ahead of the NATO summit, in Ankara, Türkiye, July 4, 2026. (Reuters)
Turkey and NATO flags wave ahead of the NATO summit, in Ankara, Türkiye, July 4, 2026. (Reuters)

US President Donald Trump's visit to Ankara for the NATO summit could help secure Türkiye's acquisition of dozens of fighter jet engines, but won't resolve the F-35 dispute that has soured ties, analysts say.

The July 7-8 summit, which is being hosted by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will bring together leaders from the military alliance's 32 member states.

Last month, Trump promised to make Erdogan "very happy" when asked about Türkiye looking to secure F110 jet engines and being readmitted to the F-35 fighter jet program.

Analysts said it would likely mean freeing up fighter jet engines Türkiye wants to use in its flagship KAAN stealth fighter project.

"It's likely to be the green light for the F110 GE engines for the KAAN fighter plane, about 40 of them. There had been obstacles to that supply and very possibly those are now being removed," Sinan Ulgen, director of the Istanbul-based Edam think tank, told AFP.

"Türkiye has produced a couple of prototypes which are flying with the F110 engine, but it has been waiting for the supply of additional engines to increase the number of KAAN platforms," he said.

KAAN is a twin-engine stealth fighter being developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) to replace the Turkish Air Force's fleet of F-16s as Ankara seeks to join the exclusive club of nations producing fifth-generation combat aircraft, notably the US, China and Russia.

Although Türkiye will eventually fit the fighter with its own domestically-produced engine -- the F110s lacking stealth capability -- that project is still in the preliminary design phase, Defense Minister Yasar Guler said in September.

Türkiye received a first batch of 10 F110s in September, and talks with the US government to acquire 80 more were "ongoing", he said.

- Indigenous defense systems -

But that's been held up by a lack of political clearance linked to Türkiye's 2017 acquisition of a Russian S-400 missile defense system, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in September.

Infuriated, Washington expelled Türkiye from its F-35 fighter jet programe in 2019 and imposed CAATSA sanctions a year later, hampering Turkish defense projects and souring ties.

"The CAATSA issue must be resolved. The US needs to take steps both regarding the F-35 and the engines for KAAN. KAAN's engines are currently awaiting approval in the US Congress," Fidan said, his remarks raising eyebrows back home as Türkiye had said the KAAN would be entirely domestically produced.

Ankara's F-35 exclusion has forced it to refocus on self-sufficiency.

"Some argue we should not buy F-35s and invest that money into our own fifth-generation fighter jet program. And that's exactly what's happening with President Trump's decision to export jet engines," Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, head of the German Marshall Fund in Ankara said.

"Without those engines, Türkiye cannot produce the KAAN jet."

- F-35 deadlock drags on -

With a KAAN delivery date many years away, only Indonesia has placed an order, signing a $10 billion contract to buy 48 fighters, although the NATO summit could generate further interest, Ulgen said.

"Looking at the failure of the German-French FCAS initiative, there may be some interest. Spain could potentially become a partner... But there are more obstacles to be overcome for it to become a credible offer on the international stage," he said.

Experts expected little progress on the lingering F-35 dispute: for Congress to lift the CAATSA sanctions, Ankara would have to get rid of the S-400 -- but selling it to a third country would require Moscow's approval, and returning it to the Russians was not on the cards.

"The US administration might wish to... put this issue behind it and sell Türkiye some F-35, but that will go to Congress and changing the congressional decision won't be easy," said Professor Mustafa Aydin, an international relations expert at Istanbul's Kadir Has University.

But Matthew Bryza, a retired US envoy and former senior White House and State Department official, said Trump could move to resolve the matter as the F-35 was an executive decision which he could easily reverse.

"President Trump can certainly declare that the S-400/F-35 dispute is finished. It's the CAATSA sanctions that require congressional action. Whether he can persuade Congress to do that, depends on how much political capital he's willing to expend," he told AFP of a move that could be "politically costly in the lead up to the midterm elections" due to Türkiye's opponents in the Greek and Armenian diaspora.