Why Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is likely to skip father’s grand funeral

It is being called “one of the most significant moments” in Iran, and millions are expected to attend. The event in question: the funeral of former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Authorities in Iran have planned a six-day event, starting on Saturday (July 4), which will culminate with Khamenei’s burial on July 9 in the northeastern city of Mashhad, his birthplace. A day earlier, a funeral procession is expected to pass through Iraq, including the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala — a move widely seen as a signal of Iran’s regional influence.

Dignitaries from around the world are expected to attend the funeral of Iran’s former supreme leader — Pakistan’s Shehbaz Sharif is expected to attend along with dignitaries from China, Afghanistan, and even India.

However, one man is likely to  be missing from the funeral: Ali Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, the country's ruling supreme leader. In fact, the 56-year-old Supreme Leader of Iran has even remained conspicuously absent from his wife’s funeral, who was killed in the February US-Israeli strike on Ali Khamenei’s residence.

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Mojtaba skips his wife’s funeral

>> On July 1, Iran held a funeral procession for Zahra Hadad-Adel, the wife of Mojtaba Khamenei and daughter of Gholam-Ali Hadad-Adel, the former speaker of the Iranian parliament.

>> Her funeral was held in Tehran at Farhang High School, where she had taught for several years. The ceremony was attended by her father, along with family members, colleagues, and educators.

> However, her husband, Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, was not seen at the sombre event.

A billboard depicting Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei at Valiasr Square in Tehran, Iran. Reuters

Mojtaba expected to miss father’s funeral too

>> And it seems that the Iranian supreme leader will also give his father’s funeral a miss.

>> Iran has planned an elaborate event for the funeral ceremony, with acting Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani stating that the ceremonies for the former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would be “the largest assembly in the history of the capital”.

>> According to officials within Tehran, Mojtaba will not be attending his father’s last rites as authorities cannot guarantee his safety.

>> The Supreme Leader’s Representative in India, Ayatollah Hakim Elahi, told India Today before departing that the decision was being driven entirely by security concerns. “I was in Iran last week and met some of my friends who met him. They said he wants to come out. He wants to meet people. But the security doesn’t allow him to come,” Elahi stated, adding, “They said ‘it is very dangerous and we cannot provide security for him’. I think he will not come out.”

>> There are huge security concerns even as the United States and Iran have called for a ceasefire in the conflict. There’s a rampant fear that the US and Israel could use the event as a way to target Mojtaba Khamenei.

> Authorities are deploying extensive security around the funeral processions amid concerns over possible retaliation or targeted attacks. Earlier, an Iranian military commander had warned the United States and Israel that any attack on the country as it prepares for the state funeral of the former supreme leader would be the opening attack of the war. “We warn the enemies of Iran, especially the US and the Zionist regime, to avoid any miscalculation and to think about the harsh retaliation our armed forces would make to any threat and aggression against our country,” Ali Abdollahi, commander of Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said in a statement carried by state media.

A woman walks past a banner with a graphic depicting the slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei kissing head of the late commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard expeditionary Quds Force, General Qassem Soleimani at an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran. AP

Mojtaba continues to be in hiding

>> Since assuming the post of Supreme Leader after his father’s death in February, Mojtaba has yet to appear publicly. He has only communicated through written statements, fuelling questions about his health and ability to lead.

>> Explaining this absence, Member of Parliament Salar Velayatmadar was quoted telling Iran Wire: “Based on the opinion of the scholars of Najaf, Qom, and Mashhad, and the decision of security officials, no new images or works of his are being published for the time being so that enemies cannot harm him through specific channels and occult sciences, which are discussed in universities such as the Tel Aviv University of Occult Sciences.”

>> There have been many reports circulating about the extent of his injuries. Some accounts suggested he escaped with minor wounds, while others claimed he sustained far more serious injuries, including burns and possible limb damage.

>> In April, Reuters had reported that Mojtaba Khamenei had sustained severe injuries to his leg and face in the February attack by the US and Iran. However, the report added that the 56-year-old was mentally sharp, taking part in meetings with officials and engaging in decision-making on major issues, including the war and negotiations with Washington.

>> However, this was a complete contrast to what Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abbas Araghchi, told Al Jazeera in a March interview. “As far as I know, there were only superficial injuries, and he is in perfect health.”

>> In May, Fars News, the country’s semi-official news agency, reported that Mojtaba was “in full health” and was suffering only from a “small scratch behind his ear” despite reports of him requiring plastic surgery for his face for severe facial and lip burns and undergoing three surgeries on his leg and awaiting a prosthetic limb.

Grand preparations for Ali Khamenei’s funeral

>> Iran is preparing the largest state funeral in its history for former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

>> The six-day ceremonies will take place across five cities, including in neighbouring Iraq. They will begin on Saturday, when Khamenei’s body will lie in state at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla prayer complex.

>> The funeral events will continue through Monday, with a procession through the streets of Tehran. The ceremonies will then move to the holy city of Qom on July 7, before continuing in Najaf and Karbala in Iraq.

>> Khamenei’s body will then return to Iran for burial in his home city of Mashhad on July 9.

With inputs from agencies