Thousands of Iranians gathered in Tehran on Saturday to attend the funeral procession of senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders, nuclear scientists, and civilians killed in Israeli airstrikes, according to Iranian media, The Jerusalem Post reported
Their coffins were driven into Tehran’s Azadi Square adorned with their photos and national flags, as crowds waved flags and some reached out to touch the caskets and throw rose petals onto them.
Iran’s President Mansour Pezeshkian and Esmail Qaani, head of the IRGC’s Quds Force, were present at the procession.
“Today, Iranians, through heroic resistance against two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, protected their honor and dignity, and look to the future prouder, more dignified, and more resolute than ever,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who also attended the funeral, said in a Telegram post.
Authorities in Iran stated that 627 people were killed in the country, though the full extent of the damage could not be independently verified due to strict media restrictions. According to Israeli officials, 28 people were killed in Israel during the conflict.
A senior Israeli military official said on Friday that more than 30 senior security officials and 11 senior nuclear scientists were killed in Iran during Israel’s Operation Rising Lion, summarising the 12-day air war with Iran.
The official added that the Israeli Air Force struck over 900 targets and caused significant damage to Iran’s missile production capabilities during the conflict, which ended with a US-brokered ceasefire, The Jerusalem Post reported.
The procession comes days after Ayatollah Khamenei congratulated the people of Iran for what he called a “decisive victory” over the US and Israel during the 12-Day War in posts on X/Twitter, and a recorded message released on Thursday.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Khamenei congratulated the Iranian people and said, “With all that clamour, with all those claims, the Zionist regime, under the blows of the Islamic Republic, has almost collapsed and been crushed.”
Khamenei also claimed that the US intervened in the war out of fear that Israel would be destroyed without its help. He asserted that the US gained nothing from the war and received a “slap in the face.”
The Iranian leader warned that Iran “can take action whenever it deems necessary” and that any further aggression by its enemies would result in them “paying a heavy price.”
His remarks followed a two-week disappearance from the public eye, during which he reportedly relocated to a hidden location and avoided electronic communications over concerns about Israeli assassination attempts. (ANI)
