Iranian officials are still yet to bury the remains of the assassinated Supreme Leader months on from his death, with one security expert claiming the regime is too scared to hold a ceremony
Reports suggest that Iranian officials are ‘afraid to bury’ the slain Supreme Leader, months after his death.
Ali Khamenei, 86, was assassinated in a joint US-Israeli airstrike on February 28 that launched the Iran war with the US – with his son now taking over the reigns after his death.
The cleric’s remains are yet to be laid to rest, breaking with established tradition, according to the New York Post.
Now, one security expert claims the delay is down to Tehran being too fearful to carry out the process.
The last state funeral for his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1989 saw millions of Iranians flooding the streets of Tehran in mourning – but similar displays for Khamenei were largely absent during weeks of airstrikes across Iran that claimed many of the regime’s top leaders.
According to reports, a ceremony would risk potential Israeli airstrikes, nationalist counter-rallies similar to the nationwide uprisings earlier this year, and the regime’s need to explain the absence of Mojtaba Khamenei, Khamenei’s son and the new supreme leader, who has not been seen in public since his appointment.
“It speaks volumes that the turnout for the funeral of the regime’s founding father in 1989 was such a massive affair, and yet one generation later his successor is still not able to have a funeral well over a month after his passing,” Taleblu continued.
“The Islamic Republic likes to talk a big game about owning the streets, but a 50-day internet blackout tells you all you need to know. The regime fears the consequences of the truth getting out.”
Iranian officials are now understood to be weighing up the remote northeastern city of Mashhad as a potential resting place for the Supreme Leader, according to state media outlet Fars, as reported by The Australian.
Mashhad, which borders Turkmenistan and lies far from Israel, is Khamenei’s birthplace and holds both practical and symbolic significance.
Among the proposals being considered is a burial site close to a shrine that benefits from a substantial security presence, which would afford protection to the long-serving leader’s grave, according to reports.
The Islamic Republic had initially planned a three-day state funeral commencing on 4th March, but those plans never came to fruition after the country was shaken by large-scale Israeli and US bombing campaigns, according to state news agency Irna.
No dates have yet been confirmed for Khamenei’s burial ceremony.
The US and Iran reached a temporary truce on 8th April, which is due to expire on Wednesday.
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