On the second day of the funeral ceremonies for former regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei, the event became a venue exposing divisions and internal rivalries among power factions within the Iranian regime. Contradictory slogans, warning placards, and open displays of support for certain regime figures reflected the intensifying power struggle at the highest levels of the regime following Khamenei’s death.
During the July 4 ceremony, participants repeatedly chanted slogans including “Revenge, revenge,” “Death to the infiltrator,” “Death to the compromiser,” and “This is the final message, negotiations are forbidden,” expressing their opposition to the regime’s current negotiations with the U.S. over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Alongside these chants, some attendees repeatedly shouted “Labbaik, Seyyed Mojtaba,” a slogan indicating efforts by certain regime factions to express support for Khamenei’s son, who was appointed as the new supreme leader.
A leaflet circulating among the crowd read: “In principle, I held a different opinion; return to the Leader’s position.” The appearance of such a message, at a time when competition over the regime’s new power structure has intensified, is viewed as a sign of internal disagreements and attempts by one faction of the ruling establishment to impose its preferred policies.
This was a statement made by the new leader of the Iranian regime regarding opposition to the current negotiations with the United States. Despite his warning, other factions within the regime proceeded with those negotiations.
In various parts of the ceremony, regime eulogists and speakers emphasized “revenge” and opposition to any negotiations, urging attendees to chant slogans against the United States and Israel. Among the repeated slogans were “Our only slogan is revenge, revenge” and “We will kill, we will kill those whom our Imam killed.” These chants above all reflected the radical atmosphere and factional rivalries within the ruling establishment.
Mojtaba Khamenei’s Notable Absence from the Funeral Prayer Ceremony
The funeral prayer for Ali Khamenei was held on Sunday morning and led by Grand Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani, a senior Shiite cleric. The ceremony took place more than four months after Khamenei’s death. However, the most notable aspect of the event was the absence of Mojtaba Khamenei.
Mojtaba Khamenei was not only absent from his father’s funeral prayer, but no audio or video recording of him has been released during the more than four months since Khamenei’s death that would indicate an active public role at the top of the regime. Although the authorities may seek to justify his absence on security grounds, the attendance of nearly all senior regime officials—including the heads of the three branches of government, commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and commanders of the IRGC Quds Force—raises serious questions about that explanation.
By contrast, Ali Khamenei’s three other sons—Mostafa, Massoud, and Meysam Khamenei—who had not appeared in public since the outbreak of the war on February 28 of last year, attended the ceremony and stood beside their father’s coffin.
The combination of events, slogans, and notable absences during Ali Khamenei’s burial ceremonies appears less indicative of unity and a smooth transfer of power than of intensifying infighting and competition among the Iranian regime’s rival factions in the post-Khamenei era.
