Iran to hold ‘historic' funeral for slain top military, nuclear figures
TEHRAN: Iran will hold what it described as 'historic' funeral proceedings in Tehran on Saturday for 60 killed in its 12-day war with Israel, including top military commanders and nuclear scientists.
The commemorations will begin at 0800 local time (0430 GMT) at Enghelab (Revolution) Square in central Tehran, followed by a funeral procession to Azadi (Freedom) Square, about 11 kilometres (7 miles) away.
'A brief ceremony will be held there, then the processions of the martyrs will go toward Azadi Square,' said Mohsen Mahmoudi, head of Tehran's Islamic Development Coordination Council, in a televised interview Friday.
'Tomorrow will be a historic day for Islamic Iran and the revolution,' he added.
Among the dead is General Mohammad Bagheri, a major general in Iran's Revolutionary Guards and the second-in-command of the armed forces after supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
He will be buried alongside his wife and daughter, a journalist for a local media outlet, all killed in an Israeli attack.
Nuclear scientist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, also killed in the attacks, will be buried with his wife.
Four women and four children are among those to be honoured at the funeral ceremony.
The war erupted on June 13 when Israel launched strikes that it said were aimed at halting Iran from developing a nuclear weapon – a charge Tehran denies.
Israeli strikes killed at least 30 top commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, according to local media, including its commander-in-chief Hossein Salami and the head of its aerospace forces, Amirali Hajizadeh, who oversaw the country's ballistic missile programme.
So far, there is no indication that Khamenei will attend the funeral on Saturday.
Alive but weakened, Iran's Khamenei faces new challenges
He has previously attended ceremonies for high-ranking Iranian authorities, including late president Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last year.
The Iranian health ministry says at least 627 civilians were killed and nearly 4,900 wounded in the Israeli attacks.
Iran's strikes on Israel also killed 28 people, according to Israeli authorities.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
4 hours ago
- Express Tribune
No let-up in civilian killings in Gaza
Smoke plumed up after an Israeli strike on Gaza City. Photo AFP Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed 37 people in the devastated territory on Saturday, including at least nine children who died in strikes. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP 35 people were killed in seven Israeli drone and air strikes in various locations, and two others by Israeli fire while waiting for food aid in the Netzarim zone in central Gaza. He said the dead included three children who were killed in an air strike on a home in Jabalia, in northern Gaza. Bassal said at least six more children died in a neighbourhood in the northeast of Gaza City, including some in an air strike near a school where displaced people were sheltering. The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment by Saturday evening. Restrictions on media in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers. AFP images showed mourners weeping over the bodies of seven people, including at least two children, wrapped in white shrouds and blankets at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Video footage filmed from southern Israel showed smoke rising over northern Gaza after blasts. Other AFP footage filmed in Gaza City showed a cloud of smoke rising from buildings after a strike. In Jabalia, an AFP photographer saw civil defence rescuers aiding a man with blood on his back. Israel launched its offensive in Gaza in October 2023 in response to a deadly attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas. After claiming victory in a 12-day war against Iran that ended with a ceasefire on June 24, the Israeli military said it would refocus on its offensive in Gaza, where Palestinian militants still hold Israeli hostages. Qatar said on Saturday that it and fellow mediators the United States and Egypt were engaging with Israel and Hamas to build on momentum from the ceasefire with Iran and work towards a Gaza truce. "If we don't utilise this window of opportunity and this momentum, it's an opportunity lost amongst many in the near past. We don't want to see that again," said Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari. Hamas's October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 56,412 people, also mostly civilians, according to Gaza's health ministry. The United Nations considers these figures to be reliable.
Express Tribune
5 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Iran holds state funeral for top brass slain in war with Israel
People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran on June 28, 2025. — Reuters Iran held a state funeral service Saturday for around 60 people, including its military commanders, killed in its war with Israel, after Tehran's top diplomat condemned Donald Trump's comments on supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as "unacceptable". The proceedings started at 8:00 am local time (0430 GMT) in the capital Tehran as government offices and many businesses were closed on Saturday for the occasion. The state broadcaster showed footage of thousands of people donning black clothes, waving Iranian flags, holding pictures of the slain military commanders, chanting slogans of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" and trampling the flags of Israel and the US on the ground. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, along with other senior government officials and military commanders -- including Esmail Qaani, head of the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the Revolutionary Guards -- attended the event. Senior advisor to Iran's supreme leader, Ali Shamkhani, who was targeted and wounded during the war, also took part in the ceremony, using a walking cane, state TV showed. Images displayed mock-ups of Iranian ballistic missiles as well as coffins draped in Iranian flags and bearing portraits of the deceased commanders in uniform near Enghelab (Revolution) Square in central Tehran, where the march began. A patriotic eulogy blared from loudspeakers as the procession set out across the sprawling metropolis toward Azadi (Freedom) Square, 11 kilometres (seven miles) away. "Boom boom Tel Aviv," read one banner, referring to Iranian missiles fired at Israel during the conflict in retaliation for its attacks on Iran. Among the dead was Mohammad Bagheri, a major general in Iran's Revolutionary Guards and the second-in-command of the armed forces after the Iranian leader. Nuclear scientist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, also killed in the attacks, will be buried with his wife. Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami, who was killed on the first day of the war, will also be laid to rest after Saturday's ceremony, which honoured at least 30 other top commanders.
Business Recorder
9 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Iran extends access to airspace for overflights after ceasefire
TEHRAN: Iran has expanded access to its airspace for international overflights following a ceasefire with Israel, though flight restrictions remain in place across much of the country, an official said Saturday. 'In addition to the eastern half of the country's airspace being available for domestic, international and overflight operations, the airspace over the central and western parts of the country has now also been opened only for international overflights,' Majid Akhavan, spokesman for the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, said in a statement carried by the IRNA state news agency. Flights to and from airports in the north, south and west of the country, including Tehran's Mehrabad and Imam Khomeini international airports, remained suspended, according to Akhavan. 'All fellow citizens are requested not to go to airports located in the northern, southern and western regions of the country,' he said, urging travellers to follow updates through official sources only. The move comes after Iran reopened its eastern airspace on Wednesday, following a ceasefire that ended 12 days of fighting with Israel. Iran had closed its skies entirely on June 13 after Israel launched a wave of airstrikes, prompting Iranian missile retaliation. Airports now operating include Mashhad in eastern Iran — which Israel claimed to have targeted during the conflict — as well as Chabahar in the southeast. Flights in other regions remain suspended until further notice.
