Iran’s show of strength
episodePreviously titled “Did Iran win the war?” — renamed by the publisher on Aug 2, 2026
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What events led to the funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?
This is The Guardian.
Today, has Iran won the war? If you look at the pictures coming from Tehran, the streets completely packed with a procession estimated anywhere between hundreds of thousands and several million people, many of them waving the Iranian flag, you would believe the official line from the Islamic Republic. This is a show of strength and defiance. Proof that Iran won't be cowed.
I'm just one dot on those numbers you're seeing in from helicopters. It's definitely very, very large. When I was in the mosque yesterday, it was absolutely rammed, packed, and people couldn't get into the mosque. There was clearly more than 56,000 there.
The enormous crowds have gathered for a week-long funeral for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
How is the Iranian regime portraying its strength after the war?
The 86-year-old had ruled as supreme leader for four decades until he and members of his family, including his daughter and grandchild, were killed in the first day of airstrikes of the US and Israel's war on Iran. In his final weeks, Khamenei presided over the killing of thousands of protesters. The country was bitterly divided. Many had hoped Trump would deliver on his promise to help them. On Thursday, Khamenei will be buried in Mashhad, the second biggest city in Iran where he was born.
It's kind of two predominant emotions you come across, one of which is incredible remorse at his death. And the second emotion is one of anger and a desire for revenge. Flags saying, kill Trump. Kill the pedo. There's a lot of Epstein Island they talk about the whole time.
What emotions are present among the Iranian public during the funeral?
And they say he's a child molester. There's a kind of sense that they wanted to show the world that this was a message to the world, not just to themselves. One person said to me, you know, we may not have many missiles left, but we are the remaining missiles, by which they meant they are a kind of human shield for their country.
But following a war that appears to have left the regime so confident and resilient, what exactly was achieved? And what will it mean for the ceasefire deal? From The Guardian, I'm Nosheen Iqbal. Today in Focus, Iran after a war, a deal and a funeral like no other.
Patrick Winter, you're The Guardian's diplomatic editor and you're speaking to us from Tehran, where you're one of 300 foreign journalists invited by the regime to cover the funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He was killed in February on the first day of the US and Israel's war in Iran. So why is the funeral only happening now?
Why was the funeral delayed until now?
largely because there's been a war going on and it's very difficult to conduct a war and put on a huge operation of a funeral of this kind at the same time it's a distraction and secondly i think there's a real fear and it remains a fear that this funeral might be attacked and that if there was a gathering a collection of all the kind of senior figures in the military judiciary and political class all in one place That would be what would be described as a target rich environment for Israel. It was really security reasons. It's not kind of as absolutely chaotic as, say, two months ago. I think there was more confidence in the regime than there was. And I think there's been some kind of private understanding to the extent that there could be any understanding between Iran and America that America will not only not attack this funeral, they'll make sure that Israel doesn't either.
You said that there's a lot of security around various figures of the leadership, but are they actually collectively on show in some ways?
Yes, I mean, there was a complete long line of all the most senior figures in the military, the judiciary and religion and politics in front of the caskets. Yesterday at morning prayers, including the three sons of Ali Khamenei, who have not appeared in public, and they appeared together. There had been rumors that they had been killed.
What security measures were taken during the funeral?
There was senior figures in the IRGC who haven't been seen for weeks and months. The one exception to all this is obviously the son, Mojabo Khamenei, who's not... attended any of these public events and his whereabouts and health remains a mystery.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What events led to the funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?
0:00–1:19
2
How is the Iranian regime portraying its strength after the war?
1:19–2:10
3
What emotions are present among the Iranian public during the funeral?
2:10–3:17
4
Why was the funeral delayed until now?
3:17–4:37
5
What security measures were taken during the funeral?
4:37–5:48
6
What does the ceasefire memorandum indicate about US-Iran relations?
5:48–6:18
7
How do Gulf countries perceive the recent developments with Iran?
6:18–6:56
8
What are the implications of the new deal for the average Iranian?
6:56–32:32
Speakers
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