TEHRAN — Calls for strong and historic revenge have reached an absolute peak across the Islamic world following the final burial of the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei. Millions of deeply grieving yet defiant mourners gathered at the Holy Imam Reza Shrine in the northeastern city of Mashhad on Thursday.
This final step of a week-long funeral across multiple cities transformed from a display of national grief into a powerful public demand for justice. The global Axis of Resistance and the Iranian nation have made their position clear: the cowardly assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei will not go unpunished. The demand for direct revenge against the perpetrators—especially Donald Trump—is now a firm national stance backed by the will of millions.
The martyrdom of Ayatollah Khamenei on February 28, along with several members of his immediate family during the first hours of the nearly forty-day war launched by the United States and the Israeli regime, was carefully planned by Washington and Tel Aviv to cause a complete breakdown in Iran. The enemy wanted to remove the top leadership of the Islamic Republic, stop the government from functioning, cause division among the people, and permanently cut Iran’s links with its regional allies.
However, the political reality that has emerged over the following weeks has completely turned the enemy’s plans upside down. Instead of showing weakness or harming the state, the martyrdom of Ayatollah Khamenei has acted as a powerful force for national unity. It has strengthened the foundations of the Islamic Republic, ensured a smooth transfer of authority to the newly appointed Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, and created an ironclad unity across the global Muslim world that has not been seen in modern history.
To understand why the US-Israeli plans failed so completely, one must look at the long strategic legacy that Ayatollah Khamenei built over more than three decades. His leadership was defined by a firm commitment to national independence, economic self-reliance, and support for the Axis of Resistance. By targeting the center of this network, the United States and the Israeli regime believed they could break the bonds that tie Tehran to its regional partners. Instead, they misunderstood the deep Islamic concept of martyrdom. In Iran, the blood of a martyred leader does not create a space; it serves as a powerful message that strengthens the nation’s path. The work of the state continued without a single interruption, and the entire public instantly united behind a single demand: resistance over surrender.
The magnificent public process of honoring this great legacy began on July 3, starting a week of historic ceremonies that completely defeated Western psychological warfare and diplomatic pressure. The rites began at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla in Tehran, where the bodies lay in state. Defying Western threats, political officials, heads of state, and foreign ministers from dozens of countries, alongside leading Islamic scholars from nearly 100 nations, arrived in the capital. This massive international presence proved that the late Leader’s work had secured Iran a strong position in the world that cannot be isolated. For two consecutive days, on July 4 and 5, millions of ordinary Iranian citizens filled the avenues around the Grand Mosalla, waiting in lines that stretched for miles to pay their final respects.
On Monday, the funeral convoy moved through the main streets of Tehran. The capital became a vast sea of red and black as millions accompanied the coffins. This incredible turnout happened again on Tuesday when the ceremonies moved to the holy city of Qom, the spiritual heart of the Islamic scholarly world. Outside the Holy Jamkaran Mosque, Grand Ayatollah Abdullah Javadi Amoli led prayers before millions of the faithful, showing total unity behind the ongoing revolutionary path.
Demonstrating that Ayatollah Khamenei’s legacy goes far beyond national borders, the funeral procession moved to neighboring Iraq on Wednesday, drawing an estimated 10 million mourners to the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala. Iraqi officials confirmed this as one of the largest funeral gatherings in recent history. Entire tribal groups, top state officials, and members of the Popular Mobilization Forces accompanied the funeral convoy for miles. The flag-draped coffins were carried into the holy shrines of Imam Ali (AS) in Najaf, and then to the shrines of Imam Hussein (AS) and Hazrat Abbas (AS) in Karbala. This historic Iraqi turnout showed the total failure of foreign plans to create a divide between the people of Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran, proving an unbreakable, blood-sealed brotherhood instead.
The long journey reached its deeply emotional and historic climax late on Thursday, July 9, during the funeral in Mashhad. From the early hours of the morning, an endless sea of mourners flooded the northeastern holy city, filling the major streets. So large was the crowd that the boundaries of the Holy Imam Reza Shrine could not hold the millions who had traveled from across Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Turkey, and Nigeria to participate in the Mashhad ceremonies. The formal prayers for the deceased were held at the Payambar‑e Azam Courtyard of the shrine, led by the martyred Leader’s eldest son, Seyyed Mostafa Khamenei, who performed the prayers over the coffins as the massive crowds wept.
Following a private, deeply emotional farewell ceremony for the immediate family members, the late Leader was laid to rest inside the holy shrine of the eighth Shia Imam, fulfilling his final wishes. Buried alongside him during the final rites of the funeral in Mashhad were the family members who were martyred during the initial February 28 strikes, including his daughter, his son-in-law, his 14-month-old granddaughter, and the wife of the new Leader. Following the burial, hundreds of millions of Muslims worldwide performed the Laylat al-Dafn (night of burial) prayer, creating a shared global moment of spiritual unity born out of the historic gathering in Mashhad.
Throughout the multi-day processions, the streets were heavily filled with standard symbols of mourning, but more importantly, with clear messages of future military and political response. Prominently displayed at the front of the historic funeral in Mashhad were massive banners carried by the youth. These large banners explicitly named the political architects of the war, placing the blame directly on Trump and his military commanders, with text vowing to avenge the martyrdom.
The crowds in Mashhad shook the streets with powerful chants of “Death to America,” “Death to Israel,” and “Death to those opposed to the Guardianship of the Jurist.” The widespread display of the crimson flags of vengeance bearing the historic words “Ya Latharat al-Hussein” (O Avengers of Hussein) signaled to international observers that Iran’s public sees this burial as the beginning, not the end, of the nation’s response. The demand for revenge has spread to every part of society; it is no longer just a strategic choice for high-level generals in Tehran, but a clear command from millions of citizens during the funeral in Mashhad.
Ultimately, the grand plans of the Western powers have collapsed into a total failure. The military planners in Washington and Tel Aviv operated on a flawed model that treats a revolutionary Islamic state like a regular corporation—believing that eliminating the top leader causes the collapse of the whole system.
They completely failed to realize that the structural foundation of the Islamic Republic was engineered precisely to withstand such profound shocks. Backed by an unyielding system of ideological, religious, and political continuity, and fueled by the unwavering, monumental support of millions of devoted citizens, the leadership remains entirely resilient, ensuring that the march of the Islamic Revolution continues uninterrupted.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: tehrantimes.com
