Mourners gather beneath a portrait of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the funeral ceremonies for Khamenei and members of his family at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
A mourner holds a portrait of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as he walks past a wall bearing messages, including one in English that reads "We will kill Trump," during the funeral ceremonies for Khamenei and members of his family at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Mourners walk through the grounds of the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque during the funeral ceremonies for slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Mourners write messages on a wall, including one in English that reads "We will kill Trump," during the funeral ceremonies for slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
A man carries a child holding a red Shiite religious flag outside the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque during the funeral ceremonies for slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Mourners pray during funeral prayers held as part of the dayslong funeral ceremonies for the slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, July 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Mourners attend funeral prayers held as part of the dayslong funeral service for the slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, July 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Mourners pray during funeral prayers held as part of the dayslong funeral ceremonies for the slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, July 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Motorcycles drive past a billboard showing the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Islamic Revolution Square in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, July 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Mourners gather beneath a portrait of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the funeral ceremonies for Khamenei and members of his family at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
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A mourner holds a portrait of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as he walks past a wall bearing messages, including one in English that reads "We will kill Trump," during the funeral ceremonies for Khamenei and members of his family at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
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Mourners walk through the grounds of the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque during the funeral ceremonies for slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
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Mourners write messages on a wall, including one in English that reads "We will kill Trump," during the funeral ceremonies for slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
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A man carries a child holding a red Shiite religious flag outside the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque during the funeral ceremonies for slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
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Mourners pray during funeral prayers held as part of the dayslong funeral ceremonies for the slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, July 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
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Mourners attend funeral prayers held as part of the dayslong funeral service for the slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, July 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
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Mourners pray during funeral prayers held as part of the dayslong funeral ceremonies for the slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, July 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
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Motorcycles drive past a billboard showing the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Islamic Revolution Square in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, July 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's top officials and brothers of the country's new supreme leader emerged into public view Sunday to attend the funeral prayers for the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, signaling a new confidence in their safety as calls grew for the killing of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Their presence before hundreds of thousands of people in the capital Tehran would have been unthinkable during the Iran war, which saw airstrikes in its opening moments on Feb. 28 kill the 86-year-old Khamenei, his family members and other officials.
Israel also targeted others who appeared publicly during the war, in at least one case to fix their position for a strike.
But still unseen was Iran’s new supreme leader, . He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the airstrike that killed his father. Israel has threatened to kill him as well as he leads a theocracy now negotiating with the United States over a permanent end to the war and over Iran strangling traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, .
Ziba Naderi, a 42-year-old nurse attending the funeral Sunday, said Iran needed to follow whatever Mojtaba Khamenei commands in regards to the nation.
“I heard the call for revenge, but our leader should say what we need to do,” she said. “And we must listen to him.”
Funeral includes prayers and calls for revenge
Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani, a 97-year-old Shiite cleric, led the prayers at Tehran's Grand Mosalla for Khamenei and his late family members.
On hand were Khamenei’s sons Masoud, Meysam and Mostafa, who haven't been seen since the war. Revolutionary Guard head Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, who only had been photographed for , could be seen in the crowd by Associated Press journalists, flanked by plainclothes security forces as he wore a black baseball cap.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Esmail Qaani, who leads the Guard’s expeditionary Quds Force, also attended.
Their appearances came as posters and graffiti at the Grand Mosalla called for the killing of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mohammad Rasouli, a poet who emceed the event prior to the prayers, drew calls of “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Speaking to the crowd over loudspeakers at the funeral, Rasouli asked, referring to Trump, “Why is the most bastard man in the world still alive?”
The question drew cheers from the crowd, and again when Rasouli said “the world is no longer a good place for” Trump. It marked the first, direct threat to Trump's life by an official during the funeral.
Trump threats grow at funeral
The American president was giving a speech at the same time across the world in Washington, D.C., for .
“We’ve had tremendous success,” Trump said about the U.S. military. “You look at Venezuela, you look at Iran. We wiped it out, wiped out their military.”
A far-larger crowd for the funeral than the day before attended Sunday. Mourners dressed in black walked to the site, carrying banners and flags honoring Khamenei and also calling for Trump's killing.
“I came here to shout and seek revenge,” said Gholamreza Sabooni, 29-year-old man who works in a grocery. “They killed our imam, we should kill their leader, Trump.”
U.S. federal authorities have been tracking Iranian threats against Trump and other administration officials for years. That stems from Trump ordering the 2020 , who had led the Quds Force. Iran repeatedly has denied plotting to kill Trump, though hard-line propaganda footage long has .
Trump meanwhile during the war among a variety of other threats.
Funeral postpones talks with US
Khamenei’s body will be transported to cities in Iran and neighboring Iraq, with authorities planning to drive his casket and others through the streets of Tehran on Monday. Authorities have shut down streets, airspace and daily life for the mourning, which will end Thursday as he is buried at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Khamenei’s place of birth.
Authorities offered no attendance count for the event Saturday and Sunday. Other cities across Iran also held mourning ceremonies.
For now, talks over reaching a permanent end to the war are on hold until the end of the funeral. Having a major turnout could prove important as Iran tries to leverage its hold on in negotiations as concern lingers that Israel could attack again.
“Our foreign policy should not be shaped in a way that allows our martyred leader’s blood to be dishonored and other countries can afford to do such things, without any serious response from our government and diplomatic system,” mourner Mohammad Reza Sharifi said.
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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
