Khamenei funeral draws out Iran’s top brass, but son’s fate remains a mystery

Political heads and military chiefs emerged to attend the week-long tribute to the supreme leader, but his son and successor was absent. Ruth Michaelson reports

- Ruth Michaelson

Iran’s political chiefs and military commanders emerged from hiding to pay tribute to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the country began days of funeral rites for its slain supreme leader, intended to send a message of defiance to its enemies and of endurance to its supporters.

Conspicuously absent was Khamenei’s son and successor, Mojtaba, who survived the US-Israeli airstrike that killed his father and has ruled from the shadows since his elevation to supreme leader, fuelling reports that he was gravely injured.

Fears of further assassination attempts and rumours of his injuries have meant that the 56-year-old remains invisible, issuing only periodic written statements and declining even to attend his wife’s funeral. Iranian officials insist he is fit to rule.

Making his first public appearance for months was the man who has steered Iran’s response to the war with the US and Israel, Ahmad Vahidi, the hardline head of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), broke cover to visit Khamenei’s coffin. State media showed him touching the coffin while bathed in emerald light.