The funeral of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei begins in Iran. What the media is writing

Iran is completing preparations for the six-day funeral procession of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the war with the United States and Israel. The ceremony will take place in several cities and neighboring Iraq. For the first time in a long time, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps appeared on it. Tehran has warned Washington and Tel Aviv against any attempts to strike during the mourning period. What the media write about the events in the Islamic Republic is in the Izvestia digest.

The Guardian: Ali Khamenei's six-day funeral will gather millions of people in Iran

Millions of Iranians are preparing to attend the six-day funeral ceremony for Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader for 36 years. The funeral of Khamenei, who died in the first salvo of the American-Israeli attack on the country in February, should be a grand display of personal grief, national strength, resilience and social cohesion. On July 3, groups of mourners with flags began gathering along roads decorated with a red fist, the symbol of funerals, and the slogan "We must rise up."

Despite the numerous posters depicting Khamenei's son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, which give the impression of continuity, he is not expected to appear at his father's funeral. He was seriously injured in the same US-Israeli strike on a government residence in Tehran. The extent of Mojtaba's injuries is unknown, and so far he has issued only written statements, including one in which he distanced himself from the cease-fire talks but approved their continuation.

Associated Press: Influential general appeared in public before Khamenei's funeral

The influential general who heads the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps made his first public appearance in months on July 3, when Tehran was preparing for the multi-day funeral of the late Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Photographs published by Iranian state media showed General Ahmad Vahidi attending a funeral meeting and then sitting next to his coffin during a small farewell ceremony organized near the former residence in central Tehran.

Vahidi has not appeared in public since February 8, a few weeks before the start of the war with Iran. Israel killed many senior leaders of the Iranian army and government during the war, and also threatened the life of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. On the morning of July 3, security forces manually carried Khamenei's coffin, covered with the Iranian flag, to the Bolshaya Mosalla Mosque in Tehran. Religious leaders, officials and foreign dignitaries marched past Khamenei's coffin, as well as other members of his murdered family.

Reuters: Iran warns U.S. and Israel against attacks ahead of funeral procession

Ali Abdollahi, commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, warned the United States and Israel against any attacks on Iran ahead of the state funeral of Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who died in airstrikes on the first day of the war. Funeral processions will begin on July 4 in Tehran and will end on the 9th with his funeral in his hometown of Mashhad. Additional ceremonies are planned in Qom and Iraq between these dates.

On July 1, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi issued a similar warning that Tehran would immediately and decisively respond to any threat to its people or leadership following comments by Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz that Iran's current supreme leader, Mojtab Khamenei, was "doomed to die." Iranian media reported increased security measures during the funeral, and the head of the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran, Mohammad Mohammadi-Bakhsh, said that temporary restrictions on the use of airspace would be imposed over several cities, including Tehran and Mashhad.

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The New York Times: American officials believed that Israel was plotting the assassination of Iranian negotiators

According to current and former U.S. officials, U.S. officials believed that Israel may have been plotting the assassination of senior Iranian negotiators. This has been part of Israel's strategy since the beginning of the war. American concerns about an attack on two specific Iranian officials — Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf — intensified during the delicate cease-fire negotiations that began in April.

U.S. officials acknowledged that during the intense phase of the war, Araqchi and Ghalibaf could have been legitimate targets for Israel. But after the negotiations began, American officials believed that any attempt to kill the Iranian leaders would lead to the termination of negotiations and the resumption of hostilities. The administration's suspicions about a possible Israeli plot to assassinate the two top negotiators show how the military objectives of the United States and Israel, which were close at the very beginning of the war, quickly diverged radically.