Iran's New Supreme Leader Absent From His Father's Six-Day Funeral

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who took power after his father Ali Khamenei's death four months ago, did not attend any part of the six-day funeral ceremonies across Tehran, Qom, Mashhad, and Iraqi shrines. He led no prayers; his brothers appeared, he did not. The absence breaks Iranian tradition and raises questions about stability in Iran's clerical succession—though whether security fears, deliberate distance, or internal tensions explain it remains unclear.