At Khamenei funeral, speaker calls to kill Trump; posters and grafitti urge death to Netanyahu, too

Iranian poet leads chants of ‘Death to Israel’ and ‘Death to America,’ threatens Trump’s life, as mourners declare fealty to new leader and urge revenge; 3 of Khamenei’s sons appear, but not Mojtaba. 

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s top officials and brothers of the country’s new supreme leader emerged into public view Sunday to attend the funeral prayers for the late ayatollah Ali Khamenei, signaling a new confidence in their safety as calls grew for the killing of US President Donald Trump. Their presence before hundreds of thousands of people in the capital Tehran would have been unthinkable during the Iran war, which saw airstrikes in its opening moments on February 28 kill the 86-year-old Khamenei, his family members, and other officials. Israel also targeted others who appeared publicly during the war, in at least one case likely using their public appearance to fix their position for a strike. 

But still unseen was Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. He is believed to be in hiding after being wounded in the airstrike that killed his father. His face was disfigured, and he suffered a significant injury to one or both legs, people close to his inner circle told Reuters. Israel has threatened to kill him as well, as he leads a theocracy now negotiating with the United States over a permanent end to the war and over Iran strangling traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global energy supplies. 

Ziba Naderi, a 42-year-old nurse attending the funeral Sunday, said Iran needed to follow whatever Mojtaba Khamenei commands regarding the nation“I heard the call for revenge, but our leader should say what we need to do,” she said. “And we must listen to him.” Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani, a 97-year-old Shiite cleric, led the prayers at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla for Khamenei and his late family members. (Read More)