Iran holds state funeral for military leaders killed by Israeli strikes
IRAN HAS HELD a state funeral service for around 60 people, including its military commanders, killed in its war with Israel.
The proceedings started at 8am local time (4.30am Irish time) in the capital Tehran.
Government offices and businesses were closed for the occasion.
'The ceremony to honour the martyrs has officially started,' state TV said.
Footage of thousands of people wearing black clothes, waving Iranian flags and holding pictures of the slain military commanders were broadcast on state TV.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, senior government officials and military commanders attended the event.
Mourners gather around the flag-draped coffins of the Iranian generals who were killed by Israeli strikes.
Alamy
Alamy
A senior advisor to Iran's supreme leader, Ali Shamkhani, who was targeted and wounded during the war, also took part in the ceremony, using a walking cane, state TV showed.
Advertisement
Images also displayed mock-ups of Iranian ballistic missiles as well as coffins draped in Iranian flags and bearing portraits of the deceased commanders in uniform near Enghelab (Revolution) Square in central Tehran, where the march began.
No sanction relief
The US carried out strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites last weekend, joining its ally Israel's bombardments of Iran's nuclear programme in the 12-day conflict launched by Israel on 13 June.
Both Israel and Iran claimed victory in the war that ended with a ceasefire, with Iranian leader Khamenei downplaying the US strikes as having done 'nothing significant'.
Mourners gathered around a coffin as it is carried through the crowd in Tehran.
Alamy
Alamy
On his Truth Social platform yesterday, US President Donald Trump criticised Tehran for claiming to have won the war. He also claimed to know exactly where the Iranian leader was.
Trump was critical of Iran's anger over the US strikes last week, claiming he had been working in recent days on the possible removal of sanctions against Iran. He added that official statements from Iran led him to stop working on the easing of sanctions.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the Republican president's comments on Iran's leader this morning. He said if Trump was 'genuine' about coming to an agreement, he would stop being disrespectful to the head of State.
The Israeli strikes on Iran killed at least 627 civilians, Tehran's health ministry said. Iran's attacks on Israel killed 28 people, according to Israeli figures.
-
© AFP 2025
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
42 minutes ago
- The Irish Sun
‘Bombs went through like butter' Trump declares as he rips critics who claim US attacks didn't destroy Iran nuke sites
DONALD Trump has celebrated his blitz on Iran again as he described US bombs as going through enemy nuclear sites "like absolute butter". The proud president has been on a week long victory lap since he dropped 12 7 Donald Trump has celebrated his blitz on Iran again as he described US bombs as going through enemy nuclear sites 'like absolute butter' Credit: Fox 7 The Fordow plant before and after the the US bombed the site Credit: Reuters 7 The moment the missile hit the earth in the test footage 7 The Trump hailed the strikes at the time and said they obliterated their targets as planned despite some claiming the hits were less successful than first thought. Three sites were reportedly hit including the main target - the Fordlow nuke plant. Tehran has admitted since that read more in Donald Trump Speaking this morning with Fox News' Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures, Trump said the bombs easily performed as expected. He explained: "The bomb went through it, like it was butter, like it was absolute butter. "It was obliterated like nobody's ever seen before. And that meant the end to their nuclear ambitions at least for a period of time." Trump also hit out again as those who had tried to say his strikes have only set back Iran's nuclear development program a few months rather than years. Most read in The US Sun A leaked Defense Intelligence Agency report first casted doubt on President Trump's "obliterated" claim. The report, published by CNN and The New York Times, claimed they did not destroy Iran's nuclear capability by any genuine means. White House fuming over top secret leak on Iran nuke site bombing as Don attends key summit Others had speculated online that Iran had been trying to remove the enriched uranium from the base so they could rebuild their operations once the US left. The preliminary report even stated that Iran had managed to shift much of the uranium safely out - a claim Trump and US officials vehemently deny. Responding to those claims, a defiant Trump said: "A lot of people have said, well, 'do you think they're going to start again?' "I said, the last thing they want to do right now is think about nuclear. They have to put themselves back into condition, in shape." The war in the Middle East lasted just 12 days as it quickly turned into a major conflict when Trump decided to strike the Iranian nuclear sites. The attacks helped to end the war, according to Trump, with both Israel and Iran quickly declaring they had won the fight afterwards. Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, claimed victory over Israel and America despite his country being hammered for almost two weeks. The supreme leader ludicrously claimed Iran had almost crushed Israel and the government in Tel Aviv was on the verge of collapse. That's despite the IDF controlling the skies over Tehran, assassinating dozens of top generals and nuclear scientists, and destroying dozens of valuable missile batteries in just 12 days of fighting. Even with a ceasefire being agreed upon, Trump made it clear he would "absolutely" consider bombing Iran again if it was ever needed. He told reporters in the White House he would "without question" attack the country if US intelligence pointed towards Iran enriching uranium to concerning levels. It comes as Iran held a funeral for the commanders wiped out in the war. The event was severely plagued by "Death to America" chants and the burning of Israeli flags across the day. 7 Trump sat in the Situation Room of the White House a day before the US strikes Credit: AFP 7 Trump had posted this Truth shortly after launching the strikes Credit: Truth Social 7 Over a million people reportedly lined the streets of Tehran for the funeral of Iranian commanders Credit: Getty
Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
Ireland's goods exports to Canada fall by more than 50%
At the EU-Canada summit in Brussels last week, Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, anxious to offset the loss in trade with the US following the bruising exchanges with president Donald Trump in recent months, seized the opportunity to push to enhance the current strategic trade partnership with the EU. Under the current Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), Ireland has gained enormously since its initial signing in 2017. Ireland's exports to Canada rose from €1.7bn in 2017 to €5.2bn in 2024. But the market has crashed in the current year, with Irish goods exports to Canada reduced by over 50% in the first four months of this year, which are now forecast to be €2.2bn for 2025 — a heavy loss of €3bn on the prior year. Much of the lost sales were in the pharmaceutical and medical devices sector, which were affected by companies in the sector in Ireland prioritising shipments to the US to get ahead of expected tariffs in April. Also affecting the market was a fall-off in demand from Canadian companies due to lost sales into their main market in the US as the tariff war increased in the early months of the year. This 54% reduction in Irish exports to the Canadian market was not reflected in Ireland's exports to its other markets in the US or the EU, which showed an increase. This is a worrying development for Ireland's goods exporters to Canada. Boost for services However, there are potential gains to be had in the market for services, if the plan to negotiate a digital tech agreement proceeds, which both parties agree would 'enhance cooperation on AI innovation, including collaboration on AI factories, to link our high-performance computing infrastructure and to deepen research cooperation in strategic technology areas such as AI and quantum'. Many Canadian firms that have set up in Ireland come from sectors such as financial services, information technology, and industrial tech. This has boosted Ireland's services exports to close to €5bn, based on the latest estimates from Canadian government statistics. Eight of the top 10 Canadian companies have a presence in Ireland. Four of the top six Canadian banks have operations in Ireland, as do four of the five leading Canadian software companies. Top Canadian insurance companies in IDA's portfolio include Sun Life, which celebrated 25 years in Waterford in 2023, Fairfax, and Canada Life, the parent company of Irish Life. Other familiar names include Scotiabank, National Bank of Canada, TD Global Finance, Bank of Montreal Europe, Brookfield Renewable, Celestica, Greenfield Global, OpenText, Constellation Software, Couche Tard, and Descartes. The services industry exporters are likely to be the big gainers from future trade development with Canada but it awaits the full implementation of the CETA agreement, which has been blocked by Sinn Féin over investor protection clauses that are to be given to Canadian investors in Ireland. However, minister of state for international development Neale Richmond, answering questions in the Dáil, said the Government would move to fully ratify the CETA trade deal, which includes the investor protection clauses, in the coming weeks, despite the misgivings of Sinn Féin. Security and defence The EU had other issues to tackle and were anxious to secure a security and defence agreement with Canada, responding to the political and commercial shock created by their main partner, the US, in threatening to pull out of Nato and demanding a minimum defence expenditure of 5% of GDP by EU member states. 'The partnership will launch work towards a bilateral agreement related to the Security Action For Europe (SAFE) instrument and give access to a €150bn loan mechanism dedicated to joint defence procurement and explore the possibility of establishing an administrative arrangement between Canada and the European Defence Agency,' a joint statement said. The document made specific mention of enhanced coordinated naval activities as a key priority as well as boosting industrial cooperation, which will benefit Ireland as it pursues the expansion of its naval fleet. The statement on security and defence issued as the summit concluded is seen as a key step in a new EU-Canada strategic partnership of the future. For EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, there was the added benefit that the deal would aid Europe with one of its greatest needs: critical raw materials that the EU lacks. Read More New markets elude Ireland and EU as reliance on agriculture stalls deals
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
'Extraordinary to bear witness': Irish politicians reflect on Budapest Pride
Banning Pride marches in Hungary "badly backfired" on Viktor Orbán, Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman said, after he joined over 100,000 people for Budapest Pride. A record number of people, from Hungary and across Europe, took to the streets for the country's main Pride march on Saturday despite the threat of legal consequences and fears around counter-protests. The protest passed off without any major incident and there were no reports of assault emerging from the march while small groups of counter-protestors made little impact. Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman at Budapest Pride on Saturday. He said Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán's attempt to ban Pride had backfired badly with attendance at the parade rising from 35,000 last year to 100.000 this year. Picture: Roderic O'Gorman Mr O'Gorman was among the Irish politicians who travelled to Budapest this weekend to show their support for the LGBT+ community in Hungary and to protest against Mr Orbán's sustained attack on their rights. Mr O'Gorman said the overwhelming display of support in Budapest showed that banning Pride badly backfired on Mr Orbán, noting that last year's event had a turnout of approximately 35,000. "It is not just the LGBT+ community marching," Mr O'Gorman said, as footage showed the streets thronged with people of all generations, families, and international supporters. Pride was led by Mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karácsony, who told the crowd: "We don't exactly look as though we were banned." Contrast with Dublin Pride Irish MEP Maria Walsh, who also attended the march, hailed the exceptional bravery of Mr Karácsony and the organisers who have been front and centre, especially in the media, despite the potential consequences from the Government. Ms Walsh said it was "extraordinary to bear witness" to the hundreds of thousands who came together as both members and allies of the LGBT+ community. It was hard not to notice the differences between the march in Budapest and Dublin Pride, which was taking place at the same time, Ms Walsh said. Political parties and organisers in Dublin would not have had to attend a number of security briefings ahead of their participation in the capital's Pride events. Security concerns before and after In the briefings, Ms Walsh said they were warned there could be sound bombs, projectiles thrown at them, and were advised to take off earrings or any other loose items. Drag artists, floats, and even music, were largely lacking at the march in Hungary, she explained, and there was not the same level of Pride flags and bunting in windows around the city as you would see in Dublin throughout Pride month. She said: It was really back to the traditional protests for Pride where people just gathered together and started walking. Ms Walsh said that while the march itself appears to have proceeded without incident, people will be watching what happens over the coming days. The Hungarian government said it would use facial recognition software to identify people attending any banned events, potentially fining them up to €500. "Many of us fly out this evening back to the European Parliament and other member states, and I hope we don't see arrests of the likes of the mayor of Budapest and you don't see arrests of those that organised or were very visible over Pride," Ms Walsh said.
