Mojtaba Khamenei unlikely to attend father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s funeral: Iranian representative

Ayatollah Khamenei’s funeral: Mojtaba Khamenei is unlikely to appear publicly at the funeral of his father, Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, because authorities cannot guarantee his safety, the Supreme Leader's representative in India, Ayatollah Hakim Elahi said.

Speaking exclusively to India Today before departing for Tehran from New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, Elahi said the decision was being driven entirely by security concerns as Iran prepared for a week of funeral ceremonies under the shadow of heightened tensions with Israel. 

“I was in Iran last week and met some of my friends who met him. They said he wants to come out. He wants to meet people. But the security doesn't allow him to come,” Elahi said. “They said ‘it is very dangerous and we cannot provide security for him’. I think he will not come out,” he added.

MUST READ | Iran invites Kharge, Salman Khurshid and Pawan Khera to Khamenei's burial ceremonies

His remarks come as Iran's ruling clerics prepare days of mass funeral rites for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a show of public devotion to the Islamic Republic and proof that its revolutionary fervour still burns strong. Iran's supreme leader was killed by US and Israeli strikes in their first attack of the war, and the funeral events will begin over the weekend in Tehran, with mass processions planned next week in Qom and Mashhad and ceremonies in Iraq.

Describing the mood inside Iran, Elahi said the country had been in mourning since Khamenei's death, with many supporters viewing the loss as irreplaceable. “It is a very, very big loss for them. They think they have lost their spirit, their soul. They believe nothing can replace him,” he said. He added that people from across Iran and from abroad were travelling to attend the funeral ceremonies and express solidarity with the late leader. “They are coming to show their solidarity and to say that we are with you, we will never forget you and we will follow your path,” he said.

DON'T MISS | Khamenei funeral: Bihar Governor, MoS External Affairs to represent India

State-backed preparations for the ceremonies have also been framed as a political display. “The large public turnout at the funeral procession of the martyred leader and the other martyrs will, in effect, be another referendum for the Islamic Republic,” Qom Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Mohammad Saidi said, according to state media. Authorities are hoping to mobilise millions of supporters across Iran's cities, laying on transport, accommodation and food to demonstrate the strength of the theocratic state after what they saw as an existential war.

Khamenei's death, and the succession of his son Mojtaba as Iran's third supreme leader, mark a major moment in the Islamic Republic's 47-year history. Mojtaba, who was dangerously wounded in the strike that killed his father, has not been seen in any new image since the war began. But behind the official display of unity and devotion, public support for the Islamic Republic has worn paper-thin, analysts say.