The mourning show: the politics of Khamenei’s funeral

**Nicolas Pelham** (0:03)
The Economist.

**Rosie Blau** (0:10)
Hello and welcome to The Intelligence from The Economist. I'm Rosie Blau. Today on the show, Japan's divorce laws get a rethink, and this week, as America's iconic Route 66 turns 100, we take you on a road trip. First up, though.
Today, in Tehran, huge crowds of mourners gathered for the main funeral procession for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The former supreme leader of Iran was killed in February on the first day of massive strikes by America and Israel. With the ceasefire holding, at least for now, the Iranian authorities have finally deemed it safe to allow this very public demonstration.
It's a religious event, as devotees mark the death of their spiritual figurehead. But as others out on the streets raise their fists, or weigh flags with Donald Trump's face on, some chanting slogans calling for vengeance, this is also a deeply political moment.

**Nicolas Pelham** (1:39)
The authorities are billing Khamenei's funeral as a referendum on the future of the Islamic Republic.

**Rosie Blau** (1:46)
Nicolas Pelham is our Middle East correspondent.

**Nicolas Pelham** (1:49)
They're celebrating his death and the funeral, not as a defeat, but as a vindication, a final triumph over foreign enemies, something very much in keeping with the arc of Shia tradition. So it's a display of strength, but at the same time, there are deep cracks in the regime's hold on the show.

**Rosie Blau** (2:09)
Nick, we'll come on to what this all shows in a minute, but just explain to us what an Ayatollah is and why this moment of the funeral is so important.

**Nicolas Pelham** (2:21)
An Ayatollah is the spiritual authority in Shia Islam. They have command over followers across the Shia world. But what was particularly unique in Iran was that the spiritual authority was also the political authority, was the supreme leader of the country ever since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 had been, to all intents and purposes, a theocracy. And at the helm of this was Ali Khamenei, who had ruled over Iran as both a spiritual authority, but as a supreme leader for the last 37 years.
The country is now at a crossroads. It's really not clear whether that theocracy is going to survive.

**Rosie Blau** (3:04)
This funeral has been delayed since February when he was killed. What have we seen in the days of mourning so far?

**Nicolas Pelham** (3:12)
There are an extraordinary six days of funeral ceremonies. And we're about halfway through. Until now, we've seen him lying in states surrounded by red tulips in a stadium-sized prayer hall, the Masala, in central Tehran.
Today we're going to see his coffin carried through the capital before traveling to Qom, 150 kilometers to the south. It will then go across into Iraq, thereby revealing the Islamic Republic's reach in the region. And from there, it will be flown to Mashhad, which is the birthplace of Khamenei, and will become his burial place nearly 1,900 kilometers to the east.
It's about demonstrating the strength of the Islamic Republic and its rulers at home. They've had a very rocky past few months, not just because of the war, which pummeled many of the bases, but also because of the demonstrations that preceded them when there were nationwide calls for the Islamic Republic to go. And it's also demonstrating its strength in the region and to the world. I don't think it's a coincidence that it's overlapped with the 250th anniversary of the United States.

**Rosie Blau** (4:24)
And who's at the funeral?

**Nicolas Pelham** (4:26)
Pop stars have been enlisted to compose. Elogies to Khamenei businessmen have been prevailed upon to donate meat and rice by the town. There are tents of supplies lining the procession route to encourage Iranians to join the procession. Millions of civil servants have been given the days off. You've got clerics who are coming from seminaries across the country. And thousands of buses have been brought on board to ferry mourners. And there's even an app which provides accommodation for people coming from outside Tehran.
And, as you would expect, it's the most prominent commanders, the generals and the politicians. You've seen President Masoud Pazeshkian, the Revolutionary Guards chief, Ahmed Wahidi. You've seen three of Khamenei's sons. But there's one critical absence, the supposed successor, the current supreme leader, Mushtaba Khamenei.
And so far, since his father's killing on the 28th of February and his appointment a few days later, nothing has been either seen or heard of him. Islamic Convention dictates that he should be leading funeral prayers. And of course, there's still three days left to go for the funeral ceremonies. It might be that he turns up on the last day, and it may well be that the authorities will say that he's absent for his own protection. But the fact that he's absent, that he hasn't been seen or heard of since his appointment, is leading to major questions in Iran about who is actually in charge.