Iran Holds Massive Funeral for 60 Commanders, Scientists Killed in Israel Conflict

Iran held a massive state funeral in Tehran for around 60 top military commanders, nuclear scientists, and family members killed during a 12-day war with Israel. The procession drew hundreds of thousands of mourners, many chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Israel," and burning Israeli and US flags, with coffins draped in Iranian flags carried through the streets. Among the dead were Gen. Hossein Salami, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the ballistic missile program, and Mohammad Bagheri, deputy commander of Iran’s armed forces, along with nuclear scientist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior officials attended, but Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was absent from the public ceremony and has not appeared publicly since before the war began; he later released a video threatening the US and Israel. The event featured defiant slogans, such as “Boom Boom Tel Aviv,” referencing Iranian missile strikes on Israel, with mourners emphasizing that the ceasefire is only a pause and promising a strong response to any future actions. The funeral underscored the deep tensions and continuing hostility between Iran, Israel, and the US amid the recent conflict.