Mourners gather in Tehran as state funeral for senior figures underway
Large crowds gathered in Tehran waving flags and banners to honor 60 people, including top military figures and nuclear scientists, killed in Iran's 12-day conflict with Israel earlier this month.
Iranian state media outlet IRIB played patriotic music over video from the state funeral ceremony, which showed mourners reaching out to touch coffins draped in Iran's red, white and green.
President Masoud Pezeshkian was seen in the crowd, alongside security officers.
Portraits of several slain military figures were displayed on a stage, including images of Major General Hossein Salami and General Mohammad Bagheri.
Some members of the crowd also carried photos of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as demonstrators chanted anti-America and anti-Israel slogans, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
Key figures: Hossein Salami was the head of the secretive Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and one the most powerful men in Iran. Mohammad Bagheri had served as the chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, which the UK-based International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated could call on more than 500,000 active personnel.
Israel claimed its killing of regime figures such as Salami and Bagheri, as well as several nuclear scientists, were among the key successes of its unprecedented attacks on Iran.
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Al-Ahram Weekly
4 hours ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Thousands mourn top Iranian military commanders and scientists killed in Israeli strikes - Region
Thousands of mourners lined the streets of downtown Tehran on Saturday for the funeral of the head of the Revolutionary Guard and other top commanders and nuclear scientists killed during a 12-day war with Israel. The caskets of Guard's chief Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of the Guard's ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh and others were driven on trucks along the capital's Azadi Street as people in the crowds chanted: 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel.' Salami and Hajizadeh were both killed on the first day of the war, June 13, as Israel launched a war it said meant to destroy Iran's nuclear program, specifically targeting military commanders, scientists and nuclear facilities. Several strikes hit residential areas, killing family members and civilians nearby. There was no immediate sign of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the state broadcast of the funeral. Khamenei, who has not made a public appearance since before the outbreak of the war, has in past funerals held prayers for fallen commanders over their caskets before the open ceremonies, later aired on state television. Over 12 days before a ceasefire was declared on Tuesday, Israel claimed it killed around 30 Iranian commanders and 11 nuclear scientists, while hitting eight nuclear-related facilities and more than 720 military infrastructure sites. More than 1,000 people were killed, including at least 417 civilians, according to the Washington-based Human Rights Activists group. In response, Iran fired more than 550 ballistic missiles at Israel, most of which were intercepted, but those that got through caused damage in many areas and killed 28 people. Saturday's ceremonies were the first public funerals for top commanders since the ceasefire, and Iranian state television reported that they were for 60 people in total, including four women and four children. Authorities closed government offices to allow public servants to attend the ceremonies. Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes. But Israel said its military campaign was necessary to prevent Iran from building an atomic weapon. Khamenei's last public appearance was June 11, two days before Israel launched attacks on Tehran, when he met with Iranian parliamentarians. On Thursday, however, he released a pre-recorded video, in his first message since the end of the war, filled with warnings and threats directed toward the United States and Israel, the Islamic Republic's longtime adversaries. The 86-year-old downplayed U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites as having not achieved 'anything significant' and claimed victory over Israel. Although, US President Donald Trump has claimed the US strikes 'completely and fully obliterated' Iran's nuclear programme, insisting it has been set back by decades, Iran is believed to have moved a portion of its highly enriched uranium stockpile ahead of the strikes, something it told the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it planned to do. Still, Rafael Grossi, the IAEA director general, told Radio France International that damage to the Fordo site—located deep in a mountain—was 'very, very, very considerable'. He said the site's centrifuges, 'quite precise machines', would likely have suffered 'important physical damage' from multiple 30,000-pound bombs. 'These centrifuges are no longer operational,' he said. Grossi has faced growing criticism inside Iran for issuing contradictory statements that officials say created political cover for US and Israeli attacks on the country. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran had not yet decided whether to grant access to IAEA inspectors to assess the damage. 'They will be kept out for the time being,' he said, speaking on Iranian state television late on Thursday. He added that US military intervention had further derailed diplomatic efforts. 'The American decision to intervene militarily made it more complicated and more difficult,' he said, referring to the prospects of resuming talks on Iran's nuclear programme. *This story was edited by Ahram Online. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Egypt Independent
5 hours ago
- Egypt Independent
Mourners gather in Tehran as state funeral for senior figures underway
Large crowds gathered in Tehran waving flags and banners to honor 60 people, including top military figures and nuclear scientists, killed in Iran's 12-day conflict with Israel earlier this month. Iranian state media outlet IRIB played patriotic music over video from the state funeral ceremony, which showed mourners reaching out to touch coffins draped in Iran's red, white and green. President Masoud Pezeshkian was seen in the crowd, alongside security officers. Portraits of several slain military figures were displayed on a stage, including images of Major General Hossein Salami and General Mohammad Bagheri. Some members of the crowd also carried photos of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as demonstrators chanted anti-America and anti-Israel slogans, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. Key figures: Hossein Salami was the head of the secretive Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and one the most powerful men in Iran. Mohammad Bagheri had served as the chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, which the UK-based International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated could call on more than 500,000 active personnel. Israel claimed its killing of regime figures such as Salami and Bagheri, as well as several nuclear scientists, were among the key successes of its unprecedented attacks on Iran.
Egypt Independent
5 hours ago
- Egypt Independent
Israeli military rejects report that soldiers told to fire at Palestinians waiting for food, after repeated deadly incidents
CNN — The Israeli military has denied a new report that soldiers were ordered to fire at unarmed Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza, after hundreds of people were reported killed while approaching food distribution sites in recent weeks. On Friday, the daily Haaretz newspaper published an article alleging that Israeli soldiers in Gaza were instructed by their commanders to shoot at the crowds of Palestinians approaching aid sites, even as it was evident that the crowds posed no threat. One soldier who spoke anonymously with Haaretz described the approach routes to the aid sites as a 'killing field' where Israeli forces open fire even if there is no immediate threat. According to the article, Israeli forces recently began dispersing crowds with artillery shells, which resulted in a sharp rise in casualties. 'We strongly reject the accusation raised in the article — the IDF did not instruct the forces to deliberately shoot at civilians, including those approaching the distribution centers,' the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in response to the article. 'To be clear, IDF directives prohibit deliberate attacks on civilians.' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have also rejected the report as 'vicious lies designed to discredit the IDF – the most moral army in the world.' More than 500 Palestinians have been killed as they approached aid sites or trucks carrying aid since May 27, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Palestinians have come under fire on a near daily basis as they approach the sites, health officials and emergency responders have said. In one such incident earlier this month, more than a dozen eyewitnesses, including those wounded in the attack, told CNN that Israeli troops shot at crowds in repeated volleys of gunfire. Weapons experts said the rate of gunfire heard in the footage, as well as images of bullets retrieved from victims, were consistent with machine guns used by the Israeli military. On multiple occasions, the IDF has acknowledged firing what it called 'warning shots' at Palestinians approaching military positions near aid distribution sites. It has also said that it is examining reports of casualties, but it has not publicly released any findings to date. According to Haaretz, the Military Advocate General has instructed the IDF General Staff's Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism – which reviews incidents involving the potential violations of the laws of war – to investigate suspected war crimes near the aid sites. 'Any allegation of a deviation from the law or IDF directives will be thoroughly examined, and further action will be taken as necessary,' the IDF said on Friday. CNN has reached out to the IDF for additional comment. Shots fired at controversial aid sites The Gaza aid sites where the deaths have occurred are run by the controversial Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which hands out pre-packaged boxes of food at a handful of locations in southern and central Gaza. The group's distribution was chaotic from the start one month ago, with crowds of desperate Palestinians rushing the sites the moment they open to take the available aid before it runs out, often within less than an hour. GHF was set up to replace the United Nations aid distribution mechanism, which Israel and the US have accused Hamas of looting. Hamas has rejected those claims, and humanitarian groups say most of the UN-distributed food aid reaches civilians. People carry relief supplies from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private US-backed aid group that has bypassed the longstanding UN-led system in the territory, as displaced Palestinians return from an aid distribution centre in the central Gaza Strip on June 8, 2025. The UN and major aid organisations have refused to cooperate with the GHF, citing concerns that it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives. Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images GHF coordinates with the Israeli military to designate specific routes for Palestinians traveling to their aid sites and has come under sharp criticism from aid experts. It has acknowledged some episodes of violence occurring outside of its immediate aid sites, but repeatedly described food distribution operations as having 'proceeded without incident.' In response to the Haaretz reporting, the organization said it was 'not aware' of the specific incidents described. Nevertheless, it added, 'these allegations are too grave to ignore and we therefore call on Israel to investigate them and transparently publish the results in a timely manner.' On Thursday, the US State Department announced that it is awarding $30 million to the organization, a sign of continued US support for GHF, which says it distributed 46 million meals in four weeks of operations.
