Iran's New Supreme Leader Missing From His Father's Funeral, Wounds Undisclosed

Mojtaba Khamenei, who assumed control of Iran after his father's death in February strikes, has not appeared publicly since taking office and was absent from week-long funeral processions across Tehran, Iraq, and Mashhad. Officials disclosed he was wounded in the same strikes that killed his predecessor but withheld severity details. For a clerical system dependent on visible continuity and ritual authority, a successor's total absence from his predecessor's burial signals legitimacy strain at a critical succession moment.