A sea of mourners buried the myth of a weak Iran

Khamenei’s funeral demonstrated that the institutions, ideology, and social base he built remain alive On July 9, Iran’s former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was laid to rest in Mashhad. He was buried in the Imam Reza Mausoleum, one of the holiest sites in the Shiite world and a particularly significant shrine for the Islamic Republic. This marked the conclusion of a multi-day mourning ceremony that began in Tehran, continued in Qom, the spiritual center of Iranian Shiism, then moved to the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala (the main centers of Shiite Islam), and concluded in Khamenei’s hometown of Mashhad. The farewell ceremony marked the culmination of the week-long mourning route, and the funeral itself drew enormous crowds. For Iran, this was more than just a farewell to a statesman. It was a farewell to a man who, for nearly four decades, had shaped the political, ideological, and spiritual course of the Islamic Republic. Khamenei had become Supreme Leader in 1989, following the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini; prior to that, he served as President of Iran from 1981 to 1989. His political biography effectively coincided with the post-revolutionary history of Iran: it was shaped by war, sanctions, external pressure, internal mobilization, the formation of the IRGC as one of the key state institutions, and the development of regional resistance policies. But for millions of people, Ali Khamenei was not just an official or an administrator. He was first of all a spiritual leader, and only then a state leader, architect of the political system, strategist, and symbol of Iranian sovereignty. This is why his death was perceived by many of his supporters not only as a political loss but also as a religious tragedy. In both official and public discourse, he is increasingly referred to as a great martyr – a man who died as a result of US and Israeli aggression while fulfilling his duties. Read more Israel isn’t leaving Lebanon and Syria may be next The scale of the funeral demonstrated that the reverence shown toward Khamenei within Iran cannot be explained solely by administrative resources, bureaucracy, or the security apparatus.

It’s true that the state organized the mourning ceremonies; and yes, the authorities sought to demonstrate the unity and resilience of the system. But millions of people cannot be summoned by a government decree. They cannot be entirely replaced by ‘buses with spectators’, official orders or slogans. When people take to the streets in such numbers and wait for hours in order to merely get a glimpse of the truck carrying the coffin, it means this is not a state-sponsored staged event, but a manifestation of the people’s genuine social and religious sentiment. Iranian authorities claimed that tens of millions of mourners attended the funeral, citing a figure of 25 million people. Sources in Tehran also mentioned figures of around 20 million people. Naturally, these figures have become the subject of heated debate. The Iranian non-systemic opposition and Israeli propaganda claim the actual number of participants was much lower, perhaps several hundred thousand people, and that the authorities allegedly altered the photographs to show massive crowds using Photoshop and AI. However, even Western correspondents, who can hardly be suspected of sympathizing with the Iranian political system, acknowledged the fact that the farewell ceremony drew massive crowds. The Guardian reported millions of participants in Tehran, although it emphasized that estimates vary somewhat. Reuters also noted the huge crowds and emphasized that the authorities strived to demonstrate national unity and strength. Even disregarding the official estimates, the fact remains that these were not several thousand mourners or a small group of people who support the regime. Perhaps there were not 20 million, but several million, o