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Sky News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News
Chants of 'death to America' at funeral for Iranian military commanders and scientists
Thousands of people have taken to the streets in Tehran to mourn top military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Iran's 12-day war with Israel. Iran's state-run Press TV said the event - dubbed the "funeral procession of the Martyrs of Power" - was held for a total of 60 people, including four women and four children. It said at least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among the dead, including the head of the Revolutionary Guard General Hossein Salami and the head of the guard's ballistic missile programme, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh. Their coffins were driven on trucks into the Iranian capital's Azadi Square adorned with their pictures as well as rose petals and flowers, as crowds waved Iranian flags. Mourners dressed in black, while chants of "death to America" and "death to Israel" could be heard. Attending the funeral were Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures, including Ali Shamkhani who was seriously wounded during the conflict and is an adviser to Iran 's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. There was no immediate sign of the supreme leader in the state broadcast of the funeral. Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said its war against Iran aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons. The US launched strikes on three nuclear enrichment sites in Iran, which Donald Trump said left them "obilterated". The Iranian government denies having a nuclear weapons programme and the UN nuclear watchdog, which carries out inspections in Iran, has said it has "no credible indication" of an active, coordinated weapons programme in the country. 2:00 Over the almost two weeks of fighting, Israel claimed it killed around 30 Iranian commanders and 11 nuclear scientists, before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday. According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side, 13 of whom were children and 49 were women. Israel's health ministry said 28 people were killed in Israel and 3,238 injured.
The National
2 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Iran holds funeral for military commanders and scientists killed in Israeli strikes
Black-clad mourners filled the streets of central Tehran on Saturday as Iran held a state funeral service for about 60 people killed in attacks by Israel, including top military commanders and scientists. "The ceremony to honour the martyrs has officially started," state TV said, showing footage of people waving Iranian flags and holding pictures of assassinated commanders near Enghelab Square as lorries bearing coffins draped in the Iranian flag passed through the crowd. A ceremony was due to be followed by a funeral procession to Azadi Square, about 11km away. President Masoud Pezeshkian, along with other senior government officials and military commanders, including Esmail Qaani, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, attended the funeral. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, did not appear in the state broadcast of the funeral. He has in the past been shown holding prayers over the coffins of fallen military figures before their funerals. The 12-day war between Israel and Iran, which began with Israeli strikes on June 13, claimed at least 627 lives in Iran and 28 in Israel, according to official counts reported by both countries. Among those being laid to rest on Saturday is Gen Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of Iran's armed forces. He will be buried alongside his wife and daughter, a journalist for a local media outlet, who were also killed by an Israeli strike. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander in chief Maj Gen Hossein Salami will also be laid to rest after Saturday's ceremony, which will honour at least 30 other top commanders. Nuclear scientist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, who was also killed in the first wave of attacks, will be buried with his wife. Of the 60 people who are to be laid to rest after the ceremony, four are children. Both Israel and Iran claimed victory in the war, which ended after US President Donald Trump declared a ceasefire hours after Iran fired missiles at the US's Al Udeid airbase in Qatar on Monday night. That attack, which did not cause any casualties, was a retaliation for the US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites last weekend, in its first intervention in the war.
