Khamenei funeral begins as Iran buries leader killed in US-Israeli war
Iran begins a dayslong funeral for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after his killing in the US-Israeli war. His death deepens uncertainty over succession, the nuclear programme and the Islamic Republic's grip on power.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who led Iran for more than three decades and reshaped it into a major regional power, is set to be laid to rest in a dayslong funeral beginning on Saturday. Khamenei was killed months ago at the start of the US-Israeli war in Iran, bringing to an end a rule marked by confrontation with Israel and the United States, a push for military strength, and repeated crackdowns at home.
Khamenei took over in 1989 after the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of Iran's Islamic Revolution. Though seen as a less forceful figure with weaker religious credentials, Khamenei went on to turn Iran's revolutionary system into a state structure centred on clerical rule, while backing armed groups across the region and pressing ahead with the country's nuclear programme.
After the 1980s war with Iraq, Khamenei strengthened the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which became the central force supporting his rule. It grew into a powerful military and business institution with influence across Iran's economy. Under him, Iran moved away from conventional warfare and deepened support for proxies, building what it called the "Axis of Resistance".
That network included Hezbollah in Lebanon, which forced Israel out of southern Lebanon in 2000 and has fought Israeli forces several times since. Iran also backed Yemen's Houthi rebels, who seized the capital in 2014 and held it through more than a decade of war, and the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza. Iranian-backed militias also fought a long insurgency against US forces in Iraq. But the regional wars triggered by Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel set off the collapse of that "Axis of Resistance" and weakened both Hamas and Hezbollah.
Khamenei also stood firmly by Iran's nuclear programme despite years of UN sanctions and Western pressure. The US and its allies have said the programme concealed a project to make a nuclear weapon until 2003. Khamenei issued a verbal fatwa saying nuclear weapons were un-Islamic, but he insisted Iran would not give up its right to pursue what he described as a "peaceful nuclear energy programme". Under the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran sharply cut its uranium stockpile and enrichment in return for relief from sanctions. But after US President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the agreement in 2018, a step welcomed by Israel, Iran built up uranium enriched to nearly weapons-grade levels. Israel and some US officials have said Tehran could use that stockpile to seek nuclear arms if it chose. Both the US-Israeli bombing in 2025 and the current war have targeted Iran's nuclear programme.
Inside Iran, Khamenei's rule saw one wave of unrest after another, driven by political repression and a weak economy. In 2009, protests erupted after the reformist opposition said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election had been rigged, leading to a crackdown in which dozens were killed and hundreds arrested. Economic protests followed in 2017, and unrest grew in 2019 over higher state-set petrol prices, with activists saying more than 300 people were killed in the crackdown. In 2022, protests broke out after Mahsa Amini died in custody after being detained for not wearing her headscarf properly. Security forces crushed those demonstrations, with more than 500 people killed and tens of thousands arrested. In late 2025, fresh economic protests swelled into what appeared to be the biggest movement yet, with hundreds of thousands demanding an end to the Islamic Republic. Activists say at least 7,000 people were killed in the crackdown.
Khamenei's death has left fresh uncertainty over the future of the Islamic Republic. His son, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, was chosen as the next supreme leader, but he was believed to have been wounded in the strikes that killed his father and has not been seen in public. As Trump launched the current war, he urged Iranians to "take over your government", but there has been no sign of such an uprising so far, with hardliners gathering nightly on the streets of Tehran. Much may depend on institutions such as the Revolutionary Guard, which has repeatedly shown that it is willing to use overwhelming force to stay in power. As Iran prepares to bury Khamenei, the funeral closes the chapter on a leader who expanded Iran's regional reach, defended its nuclear ambitions and met repeated domestic dissent with force.
With PTI Inputs
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who led Iran for more than three decades and reshaped it into a major regional power, is set to be laid to rest in a dayslong funeral beginning on Saturday. Khamenei was killed months ago at the start of the US-Israeli war in Iran, bringing to an end a rule marked by confrontation with Israel and the United States, a push for military strength, and repeated crackdowns at home.
Khamenei took over in 1989 after the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of Iran's Islamic Revolution. Though seen as a less forceful figure with weaker religious credentials, Khamenei went on to turn Iran's revolutionary system into a state structure centred on clerical rule, while backing armed groups across the region and pressing ahead with the country's nuclear programme.
After the 1980s war with Iraq, Khamenei strengthened the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which became the central force supporting his rule. It grew into a powerful military and business institution with influence across Iran's economy. Under him, Iran moved away from conventional warfare and deepened support for proxies, building what it called the "Axis of Resistance".
That network included Hezbollah in Lebanon, which forced Israel out of southern Lebanon in 2000 and has fought Israeli forces several times since. Iran also backed Yemen's Houthi rebels, who seized the capital in 2014 and held it through more than a decade of war, and the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza. Iranian-backed militias also fought a long insurgency against US forces in Iraq. But the regional wars triggered by Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel set off the collapse of that "Axis of Resistance" and weakened both Hamas and Hezbollah.
Khamenei also stood firmly by Iran's nuclear programme despite years of UN sanctions and Western pressure. The US and its allies have said the programme concealed a project to make a nuclear weapon until 2003. Khamenei issued a verbal fatwa saying nuclear weapons were un-Islamic, but he insisted Iran would not give up its right to pursue what he described as a "peaceful nuclear energy programme". Under the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran sharply cut its uranium stockpile and enrichment in return for relief from sanctions. But after US President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the agreement in 2018, a step welcomed by Israel, Iran built up uranium enriched to nearly weapons-grade levels. Israel and some US officials have said Tehran could use that stockpile to seek nuclear arms if it chose. Both the US-Israeli bombing in 2025 and the current war have targeted Iran's nuclear programme.
Inside Iran, Khamenei's rule saw one wave of unrest after another, driven by political repression and a weak economy. In 2009, protests erupted after the reformist opposition said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election had been rigged, leading to a crackdown in which dozens were killed and hundreds arrested. Economic protests followed in 2017, and unrest grew in 2019 over higher state-set petrol prices, with activists saying more than 300 people were killed in the crackdown. In 2022, protests broke out after Mahsa Amini died in custody after being detained for not wearing her headscarf properly. Security forces crushed those demonstrations, with more than 500 people killed and tens of thousands arrested. In late 2025, fresh economic protests swelled into what appeared to be the biggest movement yet, with hundreds of thousands demanding an end to the Islamic Republic. Activists say at least 7,000 people were killed in the crackdown.
Khamenei's death has left fresh uncertainty over the future of the Islamic Republic. His son, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, was chosen as the next supreme leader, but he was believed to have been wounded in the strikes that killed his father and has not been seen in public. As Trump launched the current war, he urged Iranians to "take over your government", but there has been no sign of such an uprising so far, with hardliners gathering nightly on the streets of Tehran. Much may depend on institutions such as the Revolutionary Guard, which has repeatedly shown that it is willing to use overwhelming force to stay in power. As Iran prepares to bury Khamenei, the funeral closes the chapter on a leader who expanded Iran's regional reach, defended its nuclear ambitions and met repeated domestic dissent with force.
With PTI Inputs
