Iran conducted a state funeral on Saturday for approximately 60 individuals, including high-ranking military officials and nuclear scientists killed during its recent 12-day conflict with Israel.
The ceremony took place at Tehran’s Enghelab (Revolution) Square and drew massive crowds of mourners, according to footage aired on state television.
Thousands dressed in black gathered to honor the dead, chanting slogans such as “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” while holding aloft portraits of the deceased.
One particularly provocative banner read “Boom, boom, Tel Aviv,” referencing Iran’s retaliatory missile barrage against Israel.
The televised coverage also featured mock ballistic missiles displayed alongside caskets wrapped in Iranian flags, symbolizing the country’s wartime defiance.
President Masoud Pezeshkian and Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who appeared injured from the conflict, were in attendance.
However, Khamenei himself did not appear in person, opting instead to deliver a pre-recorded video speech on Thursday in which he declared “victory” in the war that concluded with a ceasefire earlier this week.
As the funeral procession wound through Tehran’s streets, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted a tribute to the fallen on Instagram, stating:
“Iranians gave blood, not land; gave their loved ones, not honour; they withstood a thousand-ton rain of bombs, but did not surrender.”
He emphasized that the concept of “surrender” simply does not exist in Iran’s vocabulary.
Among those buried was Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Iran’s armed forces chief of staff.
His wife and journalist daughter, who perished alongside him in an Israeli strike, were also interred.
Nuclear physicist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi was laid to rest with his wife.
Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami, killed on the war’s opening day, is scheduled for burial on Sunday.
Of the 60 casualties, eight were women and children, underscoring the personal toll of the war.
The United States joined Israel in launching strikes on Iranian nuclear infrastructure last weekend. Both nations have since claimed victory.
Israel declared that it had “thwarted Iran’s nuclear project” and warned Tehran against any attempt to restore its nuclear facilities.
Despite this, Khamenei dismissed U.S. claims, stating they had accomplished “nothing significant.”
Former U.S. President Donald Trump stirred controversy with a Truth Social post on Friday in which he criticized Khamenei’s victory declaration:
“I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH, and he does not have to say, ‘THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP!’”
Trump claimed he had precise knowledge of Khamenei’s wartime location but opted not to authorize lethal force:
“I had known ‘EXACTLY where (Khamenei) was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the U.S. Armed Forces… terminate his life.’”
He also revealed that he had been considering lifting certain sanctions against Iran, but reversed course after Khamenei’s remarks:
“Instead I get hit with a statement of anger, hatred, and disgust, and immediately dropped all work on sanction relief, and more.”
In response, Iran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi issued a post on X (formerly Twitter), adopting Trump’s rhetorical style:
“If President Trump is genuine about wanting a deal, he should put aside the disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran’s Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei.”
He continued:
“The Great and Powerful Iranian People, who showed the world that the Israeli regime had NO CHOICE but to RUN to ‘Daddy’ to avoid being flattened by our Missiles, do not take kindly to Threats and Insults.”
The Iranian health ministry reported that Israeli strikes killed at least 627 civilians. By contrast, Israel said that Iranian missiles left 28 of its citizens dead.
Following the U.S attacks, Trump stated that new negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program would begin next week.
Iran, however, firmly denied this, and its parliament subsequently passed a law suspending cooperation with the UN’s nuclear oversight body, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
