Hundreds of thousands mourn top Iranian military commanders and scientists killed in Israeli strikes
State media reported more than 1 million people turned out for the funeral procession, which was impossible to independently confirm, but the dense crowd packed the main Tehran thoroughfare along the entire 4.5 kilometer (nearly 3 mile) route.
There was no immediate sign of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the state broadcast of the funeral. Khamenei, who has not made a public appearance since before the outbreak of the war, has in past funerals held prayers for fallen commanders over their caskets before the open ceremonies, later aired on state television.
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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was on hand, and state television reported that Gen. Esmail Qaani, who heads the foreign wing of the Revolutionary Guard, the Quds Force, and Gen. Ali Shamkhani were also among the mourners.
Shamkhani, an adviser to Khamenei who was wounded in the first round of Israel's attack and hospitalized, was shown in a civilian suit leaning on a cane in an image distributed on state television's Telegram channel.
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Later on Saturday night, state TV showed Shamkhani saying he and other generals knew they would be targets before Israel initiated the war earlier this month. The morning of the strike on his residence, he said he woke up for dawn prayer when suddenly everything around him had become ruins. He initially thought that an earthquake had taken place, and it took search and rescue teams at least three hours to find him in the rubble.
Shamkhani said most of his injuries were internal, including a chest fracture.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard was created after its 1979 Islamic Revolution. Since it was established, it has evolved from a paramilitary, domestic security force to a transnational force that has come to the aid of Tehran's allies in the Middle East, from Syria and Lebanon to Iraq. It operates in parallel to the country's existing armed forces and controls Iran's arsenal of ballistic missiles, which it has used to attack Israel twice during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Over 12 days before a ceasefire was declared on Tuesday, Israel claimed it killed around 30 Iranian commanders and 11 nuclear scientists, while hitting eight nuclear-related facilities and more than 720 military infrastructure sites. More than 1,000 people were killed, including at least 417 civilians, according to the Washington-based Human Rights Activists group.
Iran fired more than 550 ballistic missiles at Israel, most of which were intercepted, but those that got through caused damage in many areas and killed 28 people.
Saturday's ceremonies were the first public funerals for top commanders since the ceasefire, and Iranian state television reported that they were for 60 people in total, including four women and four children.
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Authorities closed government offices to allow public servants to attend the ceremonies.
Many in the crowd expressed feelings of anger and defiance.
'This is not a ceasefire, this is just a pause,' said 43-year-old Ahmad Mousapoor, waving an Iranian flag. 'Whatever they do, we will definitely give a crushing response.'
State media published images of an open grave plot at Tehran's sprawling Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery where army chief of staff, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, who was killed on the first day of the war, was to be buried beside his brother, a Guards commander killed during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war.
Many of the others were to be buried in their hometowns.
The Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency confirmed that the top prosecutor at the notorious Evin prison had been killed in an Israeli strike on Monday.
It reported that Ali Ghanaatkar, whose prosecution of dissidents, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, led to widespread criticism by human rights groups, would be buried at a shrine in Qom.
Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes. But Israel views it as an existential threat and said its military campaign was necessary to prevent Iran from building an atomic weapon.
Khamenei's last public appearance was June 11, two days before hostilities with Israel broke out, when he met with Iranian parliamentarians.
On Thursday, however, he released a pre-recorded video, in his first message since the end of the war, filled with warnings and threats directed toward the United States and Israel, the Islamic Republic's longtime adversaries.
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The 86-year-old downplayed U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites as having not achieved 'anything significant' and claimed victory over Israel.
The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, Rafael Grossi, has characterized the damage done by American bunker-buster bombs to Iran's Fordo nuclear site, which was built into a mountain, as 'very, very, very considerable.'
U.S. President Donald Trump has said that he expects Iran to open itself to international inspection to verify it doesn't restart its nuclear program, and White House officials have said they expect to restart talks soon with Iran, though nothing has been scheduled.
Iran's parliament has voted to suspend collaboration with Grossi's International Atomic Energy Agency for the time being.
In a post on X on Saturday, Araghchi indicated that Iran might be open to talks, but criticized Trump's remarks from Friday in which the president scoffed at a warning from Khamenei against further U.S. attacks, saying Iran 'got beat to hell.'
'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 and stop hurting his millions of heartfelt followers,' Araghchi wrote.
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Fox News
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CBS News
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"Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against "Senator Thom" Tillis," Mr. Trump wrote. "I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks, looking for someone who will properly represent the Great People of North Carolina and, so importantly, the United States of America." Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota walks to the Senate floor following a meeting with Senate Republicans in the U.S. Capitol on June 28, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Senate Republicans overnight released a new version of the "One, Big, Beautiful Bill," as they approach President Trump's July 4 deadline. Al Drago / Getty Images The vote came after Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said Friday he wasn't certain he had the votes to advance the bill, as the upper chamber awaited decisions on whether a number of provisions complied with the Senate's reconciliation rules, which allow Republicans to pass the bill with a simple majority. 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"President Trump is committed to keeping his promises, and failure to pass this bill would be the ultimate betrayal." In the bill, Republicans proposed slashing funding for Medicaid, which provides health insurance to low-income individuals and people with disabilities, and food assistance benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — or food stamps — to help pay for those priorities. Over the last week, the Senate parliamentarian determined that some of the most controversial provisions in the package violated a rule that governs the reconciliation process, which requires that the legislation only include provisions that have a direct impact on federal spending. The rulings directed Republicans to either drop those sections from the package or rewrite them. Meanwhile, in the leadup to the vote, disputes over Medicaid spending cuts, the state and local tax deduction and a planned debt ceiling increase still lingered among Republicans. In a promising sign for Senate leadership hours ahead of the vote, two Republican senators who expressed opposition to provisions in the bill said they would vote to advance it. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she would not vote against the measure advancing, but noted that did not indicate her vote on final passage. "If the bill is not further changed, I would be leaning against the bill," Collins said Saturday afternoon. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who has criticized the bill's Medicaid cuts, said he will be a "yes" vote on final passage because his state will be receiving more funding for the program. "With the delay in the provider tax framework that we were able to get and with the changes to the rural hospital fund, Missouri's Medicaid dollars will actually increase over the next four years. So we will get more money — Medicaid funding — over baseline until 2030. Any changes to our provider framework in Missouri will not take place until the next decade," Hawley said Saturday. "I want to be clear, I'm going to spend the next however long trying to make sure that the cuts that we have successfully delayed never take place," Hawley said. "I think that this effort to cut Medicaid funding is a mistake. We've been able for Missouri to delay it. As I said, we're actually going to get more money in the next four years. But that's not true of all the states." However, as a possible vote drew closer Saturday, a handful of Senate Republicans remained publicly opposed. Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said he would vote against advancing the bill and would be a "no" on final passage. And Paul of Kentucky and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin had been vocal about their opposition in recent weeks, citing concern about its impact on the national deficit. Paul was among a handful of Republican senators who golfed with the president Saturday, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said. Asked whether Paul could be convinced to support the bill, Graham said, "There's some things we might be able to do if we need to, but I don't think he'll vote for final passage." With a 53-seat majority, Senate Republicans could only afford to lose three votes with all Democrats voting against the legislation. House Republicans narrowly passed a version of the bill in May. and the lower chamber is expected to be called back to Washington to vote on the Senate version if it survives the upper chamber in the coming days. But House Republicans have warned that any major changes made by the Senate put its ability to make it through the House again at risk. Thune said on the Senate floor Saturday afternoon that "53 members will never agree on every detail of legislation." But he urged that Republicans are "united in our commitment to what we're doing in this bill." "It's time to get this legislation across the finish line," Thune added. But Democrats, without the ability to block the bill from passing, pledged to drag out the process. According to a source, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York told Senate Democrats to prepare for a full reading of the legislation on the floor, which would delay a vote on final passage by hours. The minority leader announced the move immediately following Saturday's vote. "Senate Republicans are scrambling to pass a radical bill released to the public in the dead of night, praying the American people don't realize what's in it," Schumer said. "If Senate Republicans won't tell the American people what's in this bill, then Democrats are going to force this chamber to read it from start to finish." and contributed to this report.
