Hundreds of thousands mourn top Iranian military commanders and
scientists killed in Israeli strikes
[June 28, 2025]
By DAVID RISING
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of mourners
lined the streets of downtown Tehran on Saturday for the funeral of the
head of the Revolutionary Guard and other top commanders and nuclear
scientists killed during a 12-day war with Israel.
The caskets of Guard's chief Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of the
Guard’s ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh and others
were driven on trucks along the capital's Azadi Street as people in the
crowds chanted: “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”
Salami and Hajizadeh were both killed on the first day of the war, June
13, as Israel launched a war it said meant to destroy Iran's nuclear
program, specifically targeting military commanders, scientists and
nuclear facilities.
State media reported more than 1 million people turned out for the
funeral procession, which was impossible to independently confirm, but
the dense crowd packed the main Tehran thoroughfare along the entire 4.5
kilometer (nearly 3 mile) route.
There was no immediate sign of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei, in the state broadcast of the funeral. Khamenei, who has not
made a public appearance since before the outbreak of the war, has in
past funerals held prayers for fallen commanders over their caskets
before the open ceremonies, later aired on state television.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was on hand, and state
television reported that Gen. Esmail Qaani, who heads the foreign wing
of the Revolutionary Guard, the Quds Force, and Gen. Ali Shamkhani were
also among the mourners.

Shamkhani, an adviser to Khamenei who was wounded in the first round of
Israel's attack and hospitalized, was shown in a civilian suit leaning
on a cane in an image distributed on state television's Telegram
channel.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard was created after its 1979 Islamic
Revolution. Since it was established, it has evolved from a
paramilitary, domestic security force to a transnational force that has
come to the aid of Tehran’s allies in the Middle East, from Syria and
Lebanon to Iraq. It operates in parallel to the country’s existing armed
forces and controls Iran’s arsenal of ballistic missiles, which it has
used to attack Israel twice during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza
Strip.
Over 12 days before a ceasefire was declared on Tuesday, Israel claimed
it killed around 30 Iranian commanders and 11 nuclear scientists, while
hitting eight nuclear-related facilities and more than 720 military
infrastructure sites. More than 1,000 people were killed, including at
least 417 civilians, according to the Washington-based Human Rights
Activists group.
Iran fired more than 550 ballistic missiles at Israel, most of which
were intercepted, but those that got through caused damage in many areas
and killed 28 people.

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Mourners gather in Islamic Revolution Square (Enghelab Square) to
attend the funeral ceremony of the Iranian army generals, nuclear
scientists and their family members who were killed in Israeli
strikes, during a funeral ceremony in Tehran. Iran, Saturday, June
28, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Saturday's ceremonies were the first public funerals for top
commanders since the ceasefire, and Iranian state television
reported that they were for 60 people in total, including four women
and four children.
Authorities closed government offices to allow public servants to
attend the ceremonies.
Many in the crowd expressed feelings of anger and defiance.
“This is not a ceasefire, this is just a pause,” said 43-year-old
Ahmad Mousapoor, waving an Iranian flag. “Whatever they do, we will
definitely give a crushing response.”
State media published images of an open grave plot at Tehran’s
sprawling Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery where army chief of staff, Gen.
Mohammad Bagheri, who was killed on the first day of the war, was to
be buried beside his brother, a Guards commander killed during the
1980s Iran-Iraq war.
Many of the others were to be buried in their hometowns.
The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency confirmed that the top
prosecutor at the notorious Evin prison had been killed in an
Israeli strike on Monday.
It reported that Ali Ghanaatkar, whose prosecution of dissidents led
to widespread criticism by human rights groups, would be buried at a
shrine in Qom.
Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is only for peaceful
purposes. But Israel views it as an existential threat and said its
military campaign was necessary to prevent Iran from building an
atomic weapon.
Khamenei's last public appearance was June 11, two days before
hostilities with Israel broke out, when he met with Iranian
parliamentarians.
On Thursday, however, he released a pre-recorded video, in his first
message since the end of the war, filled with warnings and threats
directed toward the United States and Israel, the Islamic Republic’s
longtime adversaries.
The 86-year-old downplayed U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear
sites as having not achieved “anything significant” and claimed
victory over Israel.
The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, Rafael
Grossi, has characterized the damage done by American bunker-buster
bombs to Iran’s Fordo nuclear site, which was built into a mountain,
as “very, very, very considerable.”
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