July 07, 2026
Millions of people are estimated to
be participating in the multiday state funeral of Supreme
Leader Ali Khamenei in Iran this week. After ruling the
Islamic Republic of Iran for over three dozen years,
Khamenei was killed by a joint Israeli-U.S. airstrike on
February 28. Now viewed as a martyr by both his religious
base and the wider Iranian public, Khamenei has taken on a
“new identity” as “the leader of the resistance
movement, the leader in the fight against U.S.
imperialism,” says Tehran-based journalist Reza Sayah, who
has been reporting on the funeral proceedings. Sayah also
discusses the absence of Khamenei’s son and chosen
successor Mojtaba Khamenei from the public eye, the Iranian
government’s position on the thousands of protesters
killed by security forces in the early months of 2026 and
more.
Transcript
This is a rush transcript.
Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY
GOODMAN: Millions of Iranians have attended funeral
proceedings for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was
assassinated in a joint Israeli-U.S. airstrike in February
along with four members of his family — his daughter, his
son-in-law, his daughter-in-law and 14-month-old
granddaughter. His son, who’s been named the new supreme
leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, remained out of public
view, but three of Khamenei’s sons, who had not been seen
since the U.S. and Israel launched the war, attended the
funeral. After days of mourning in Tehran, the supreme
leader’s body arrived in the holy city of Qom on Monday
before it will be brought to other holy sites.
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This is
a 29-year-old law student and mourner in Tehran, Atefe
Sadri.
ATEFE SADRI:
[translated] Just as I feel this way, I hear the same from
people around me whose style of dress and level of religious
observance differ from mine. Ayatollah Khamenei’s death
has affected them deeply. I used to say to myself I wish
circumstances had been different, so that such beautiful
things could have happened while he was still alive and in
his presence. But through his passing, the leader has given
every Iranian a gift, a change in our people’s way of life
and outlook. Among people my age, I can see that many people
have become more devoted to the leader and to the Ahl
al-Bayt , the prophet’s
family.
AMY GOODMAN: On
Monday, President Trump renewed his threats to attack Iran,
warning Tehran to reach an agreement or see the U.S., quote,
“finish the job.” In response, Iranian Foreign Minister
Abbas Araghchi said negotiations on a final deal will not
commence as long as threats continue.
Meanwhile,
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard reportedly fired missiles at
ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz overnight. The British
Navy reports a Qatari tanker carrying liquefied natural gas
caught fire after it was struck. A Saudi-flagged crude oil
tanker was also reportedly hit. The ships were attempting to
pass through a channel closer to Amman, bypassing
Iranian-controlled waters.
For more, we go to Iran, to
the capital, Tehran, where we’re joined by Reza Sayah,
freelance journalist based in Tehran, where he’s reporting
on the funeral of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for PBS
and France 24.
Reza, thanks so much for being with us.
Can you explain the significance of this moment and the
millions of people who have come out?
REZA
SAYAH: Yeah, and I think it had religious
significance. It had political significance. And, you know,
what a statement by the Islamic Republic of Iran to the
world and the Iranian people. This was the largest crowd,
the largest gathering I’ve ever seen. It was a show of
unity. It was a show of devotion. And what was remarkable is
the diversity of people that we saw out there. We just heard
from one of the people, one of the mourners who attended the
funeral, and that’s what I saw, as well, over these three
people.
There were certainly mourners who were there
for religious reasons. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the late
supreme leader, was their religious leader, their spiritual
leader. To many faithful here in Iran, he was the
representative of God on Earth.
However, what was
remarkable is that many people that we saw out there during
these three days were not particularly religious. They were
secular. But they were deeply antiwar, deeply
anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist. And they came to pay
their respects and give their admiration to the late supreme
leader because they viewed him as the leader of the
resistance movement, the leader in the fight against U.S.
imperialism. In many ways, this is a new identity that’s
taking shape for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He’s being
revered and honored not just as the leader of Iran, but the
man who took on two nuclear powers, the world’s empire,
the United States and Israel, a country many view has
aspirations to have hegemonic power in this region. So,
quite a scene.
And it was also a logistical challenge,
and what was remarkable is the cooperation, the people
working together, the volunteers, thousands of people. There
wasn’t a time where I took a few steps and I wasn’t
offered a lemonade or juice, or someone who wanted to
comfort me with some food or fan me. It was just a
remarkable show of unity and cooperation, centered around
this funeral services for the late Ayatollah
Khamenei.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Reza,
I wanted to ask you about the international reaction to
this, on the one hand, very little coverage in the U.S.
media of this, of this event, but also of the
representatives from different countries who attended, the
prime minister of Pakistan, the president of Tajikistan, of
Armenia, of Georgia, and dignitaries, delegations from
Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Russia, China, India and Turkey.
What does this say about the — by my count, those are
representatives of governments that govern 40% of the
world’s population. What does this say about the standing
of Iran in the world today after the U.S. and Israeli
attack?
REZA SAYAH: Well, I think it
says that the Western narrative that we see in Western
media, international media, in European capitals, it is
still there. And in many ways, it’s a narrative that the
Western media and European capitals are addicted
to.
There was no question that this was the largest
gathering I’ve ever seen. I can’t remember in modern
history, looking back, a public gathering this big. But when
you look at international news coverage from Western media,
there’s still questions about the size. I’ve seen a lot
of reports describing the crowd as thousands of mourners, a
lot of people still questioning if many of these mourners
were paid, given incentives by, given food. To many people
here, it’s laughable.
But it’s an indication that
that narrative is still there. Those capitals, those
European capitals, the media downplaying what many view is
an emerging power here in the Islamic Republic, which is an
outcome of the war that was started on February 28th with
the assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei, a war where many
analysts, many observers or certainly many supporters of the
Islamic Republic believe that Iran won.
JUAN
GONZÁLEZ: There were also some shots of the
president of Iran walking among some of the
mourners.
REZA SAYAH:
Yeah.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Isn’t there a
concern among the Iranian leaders that Israeli
—
REZA SAYAH:
No.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: — agents within
Iran might be pinpointing the whereabouts of the key leaders
during these ceremonies to establish ongoing surveillance
for future assassination attempts?
REZA
SAYAH: Yeah, even if there is a concern, you know,
I think that they’re still — they would still go. And he
went. And this is something that maybe is difficult for
people in the West to understand about Iranian culture and
the notion and the value of martyrdom.
When I was out
in the crowds yesterday, one thing that I noticed was that
the millions of people out there, most of them didn’t care
about how they looked. They weren’t into trends in
fashion, what they were looking like, which is values you
see in the West and in the United States, and it’s very
normal. But here, in the culture, that’s not emphasized.
The values here are devotion to your faith, to your country,
to your leaders and your fellow countrymen. And certainly,
there’s this idea of martyrdom. And indeed, Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei, in many people’s view, had the ultimate honor in
Shia Islam to be martyred.
So, no, I think Pezeshkian,
the Iranian president, you know, wants to show that he’s a
man of the people, and I think it’s genuine. And
oftentimes you see leaders come out among the people. So,
for the Iranian people, that wasn’t very
unusual.
AMY GOODMAN: So, let me ask
you about his three sons, who had not been seen since U.S.
and Israel attacked and killed their father. They were
shown, but Mojtaba Khamenei, chosen to replace his father as
the supreme leader, has not been shown. Do you believe he is
alive, Reza?
REZA SAYAH: I don’t
know. You know, it’s — obviously, that’s a question
that many people ask. My guess, if I was to guess, he is
alive. I don’t think the establishment here, the
leadership, would appoint him as the next supreme leader
after the death of Ayatollah Khamenei if he wasn’t alive.
They’d have a lot of complicated explaining to do. It is
very likely that he didn’t show up for security reasons.
Some people are speculating that he was badly injured in
that strike on February 28th. But all of this is
speculation.
But we should point out that these
questions about the whereabouts of Mojtaba Khamenei, the
supreme leader, you know, they’re not being asked here in
Iran. They’re mostly being asked in the West by the
international media. And again, in a lot of people’s views
here, it’s another — it’s another effort to maybe
downplay the impact of the funeral ceremony and the presence
of so many people. To many Iranians who support the
government, whether he shows up in public or not, they
believe he is leading effectively with his decisions. But as
long as he doesn’t appear in public, I think those
questions are going to be there.
JUAN
GONZÁLEZ: And, Reza, I wanted to ask you about
these plans to actually then move his body to Iraq, given
the fact that Iraq is essentially a client state of the
United States. What’s the reason for that? And what could
be the potential impact within Iraq?
REZA
SAYAH: Yeah, I think, you know, from the moment
this ceremony started on Saturday, all the destinations, all
the paths where the coffin and the convoy went, they had
symbolic meanings. And the reason that his body is going to
be transported to Iraq are because of the holy sites of
Najaf and Karbala. They have significant meanings in Shia
Islam. And Ayatollah Khamenei has a lot of admirers, a lot
of fans there. And I’ve seen reports that they’re
preparing for the ceremony there. So that’s why they’re
doing it. It has religious significance, and they want to
show, I think, that this is a man that’s admired in the
entire region. And after they’re done in Iraq, Karbala and
Najaf, the ceremony will culminate in Mashhad. That’s
where Ayatollah Khamenei was born, and that’s where he’s
going to be buried.
AMY GOODMAN: Reza
Sayah, what about the role of the Supreme Leader Khamenei in
the repression of the protests? What role did he play? And
also, with the millions of people who have come out, what
about the dissidents in Iran? Where do they stand
today?
REZA SAYAH: [inaudible]
public, but they are still here. I spoke to a number of
them. I interviewed a number of them. They’re still
skeptical about the support of the Islamic Republic. They
are still angry and, rightly so, outraged about the deadly
crackdown that took place in January, where thousands of
people killed. Many of those opponents and critics of the
government of the Islamic Republic blame Ayatollah Khamenei
for that deadly crackdown and other deadly crackdowns that
have taken place throughout the history of the Islamic
Republic. So, they are there, but they haven’t been in the
streets, obviously. There’s been such a huge security
presence over the past couple of months. It’ll be
interesting to see, moving forward, how they react to the
presence that they saw from the supporters yesterday, and
what strategy they have moving forward.
As far as the
Islamic Republic itself, it has repeatedly acknowledged that
civilians were killed in January. But their position is that
many of these civilians — not all, many of them — were
armed by Israel, foreign elements. And there is evidence,
there’s indications, that they intentionally attacked
police headquarters, government buildings explicitly to
topple the regime. So, the Islamic Republic’s position is
that even though civilians, you know, were killed, this was
an armed insurgency, and they responded to a movement that
was fueled and funded and armed by foreign
enemies.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Reza, what
do you make about all the reporting in the U.S. press about
divisions within the Iranian leadership after the death of
Ayatollah Khamenei, and what — especially in terms of what
to do in terms of the Strait of Hormuz or a peace agreement
with the U.S.?
REZA SAYAH: Well,
those, the fact that there’s a heated, intense debate is
accurate here. There are factions here within the leadership
and among people that believe that they should not negotiate
with a country that four months ago assassinated the leader,
assassinated more than a hundred political and military
leaders, attacked — dropped a bomb on a school and killed
160 people and, you know, thousands of innocent civilians.
This is a faction that believes that it’s a mistake to
negotiate with Washington, and Washington can never be
trusted. And there is a faction that’s worried about the
economy, the sanctions. Their priority is getting the
economy going. This is a struggling economy, and people are
paying the price.
So, the debate is real. It’s an
intense debate. But are there divisions? Are there
destabilizing divisions? No. I think the debate is
happening, but the leadership here and the people understand
that they must show unity. And they understand that their
opponents, their critics, their enemies, and especially
Washington, is going to exaggerate these divisions in an
effort to show instability in Iran. But from Iran’s point
of view, it’s not unusual for countries and leaderships
and governments to have debates and differences. And we are
seeing that when it comes to how to move forward with
negotiations in the conflict with
Washington.
AMY GOODMAN: Reza Sayah,
in this last minute we have, why is the funeral being held
now? The supreme leader was killed some four months ago. And
you have President Trump, after seeing video of Iranian
leaders at the funeral, saying to Axios, “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.” Reza?
REZA
SAYAH: Yeah. In Shia Islam, it is encouraged to
bury the dead very quickly, within one or two days.
Obviously, this didn’t happen. The war had everything to
do with the funeral being delayed. And I think with a
ceasefire in place, they decided that this was the time to
do it, that that’s what went behind their
decisions.
And as far as the rhetoric coming from
Washington, I think many Iranians, from the leadership to
the public, you know, are used to this kind of rhetoric
coming from the Trump administration, Mr. Trump himself.
Remember, you know, he was the president who threatened to
eliminate the civilization. And I’ll never forget that
night, where I was sitting in my apartment, where he had put
the deadline, threatening to destroy the Iranian
civilization. And for the first time in my life, you know, I
thought, you know, “Is Tehran, is the city where I’m
staying with my 7-year-old daughter, is it going to be
attacked with a nuclear bomb?” So, yeah, I think, you
know, people are used to that, that kind of rhetoric with
Mr. Trump, and many expect it to continue.
AMY
GOODMAN: Reza Sayah, freelance journalist based in
Tehran, Iran, where he’s reporting on the funeral of the
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for PBS and France 24. Thanks so
much for joining us. Stay safe.
Coming up, an update
on the case of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the jailed
pediatrician, former director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan
Hospital. He’s been imprisoned by Israel since December
2024. Stay with us.
[break]
AMY
GOODMAN: “Sheel, Sheel,” “Carry, Carry,”
performed by the New York City Palestinian Youth
Choir.
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