Here's the latest
• Funeral ceremonies: A CNN team on the ground in Tehran has spoken to mourners among the thousands who have gathered for the start of dayslong funeral processions for slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Millions of people are expected to attend across multiple locations in Iran and Iraq until July 9.
• Security threats: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has warned against any attempts to target the country in the coming days. President Donald Trump said the US has given Iran “a week off” for the funeral “because we’re nice”, claiming they “want to settle so badly.”
• Strait of Hormuz: Meanwhile, tracking data shows at least eight ships U-turned after attempting to use the strait today by hugging the Omani coast, pointing to ongoing difficulties in the critical waterway.
• Assassination warning: Elsewhere, US officials attempted to warn Iran of fears they had that Israel would assassinate Tehran’s parliamentary speaker and foreign minister during talks this spring, two officials said. Iran paused talks ahead of the funeral.
Israeli military says it killed "militant" in Lebanon
The Israeli military said it killed an “armed militant” in southern Lebanon on Saturday.
Israeli soldiers pursued and “eliminated” the individual after they were seen “carrying a weapon in the security zone near the Majdal Zoun area in southern Lebanon,” the military said in a statement.
The attack comes a little over a week after Israel and the Lebanese government signed a US-brokered agreement outlining an Israeli withdrawal from two areas in southern Lebanon. Fighting in Lebanon has continued since then. Militant group Hezbollah denounced the agreement, demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal from the country.
Israel has rejected the idea of a full withdrawal, and in fact approved continued military operations in Lebanon shortly after the deal was signed.
Trump says Netanyahu "knows who the boss is" ahead of White House meeting
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a phone call with US President Donald Trump yesterday, in which the pair agreed to meet in Washington soon, according to an Israeli readout of the call.
The leaders have not met since the war with Iran began at the end of February. In this time, strains between Trump and Netanyahu have emerged regarding how to handle the conflict, as CNN’s Oren Liebermann reports from Jerusalem.
Trump confirmed the meeting in a phone interview with Axios’ Barak Ravid, who is also a CNN contributor, saying it could take place as early as next week.
During the interview, Trump said Netanyahu “knows who the boss is,” adding that he gets along well with the Israeli leader.
Trump will be attending a NATO summit in Turkey July 7-8 and the meeting would take place after his return. The Israeli prime minister’s office later said in a post on X that Netanyahu and Trump agreed to meet “in the US in the near future” during their phone call, and that the prime minister had extended his congratulations on the occasion of America’s 250th anniversary.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
This post has been updated to reflect a post from the Israeli prime minister’s office.
Whereabouts of Iran's new supreme leader remains a mystery
Even as huge crowds fill the Iranian capital for funeral ceremonies for the slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who died in a US-Israeli strike, the whereabouts of his son, Iran’s new supreme leader, remains unknown.
Mojtaba Khamenei is yet to make a public appearance, adding to doubts about his health and fueling questions over who is leading the nation.
While the Iranian government has detailed a number of events, no plans have been announced for Mojtaba to appear, although any such decision would unlikely be made public in advance given security considerations.
Mojtaba is thought to have been wounded in the attack that killed his father, his mother and his wife.
He has remained in hiding since the war began in late February, communicating with his supporters only through written statements shared by Iranian media and attributed to him. He has never shown his face or used his voice.
Around 15 million expected to take part in funeral ceremonies, Iran's Health Ministry says
Around 15 million people are expected to take part in funeral ceremonies for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over the next several days, the Iranian Health Ministry has said, according to the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.
“Our estimate is that over the next two to three days, around 15 million people will participate in the farewell and funeral ceremonies,” the ministry said, according to Tasnim. It did not share how this figure was calculated.
Preparations surrounding the funeral have been underway for a month, the ministry said, adding that temporary hospitals have been set up near the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla in Tehran, where the coffins of Khamenei and several members of his family are laid out.
Medical teams are on “full standby,” the ministry said, reported by Tasnim. The provinces of Qom in north-central Iran and Mashad in the north-east of the country are also planning on hosting funeral ceremonies, it added.
More than 2.2 million people traveled on Tehran’s metro system between the hours of 5:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. local time Saturday (10 p.m. ET Friday to 7:30 a.m. ET Saturday), the Tehran Municipality said, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency.
What the title Ayatollah means, and why it matters in Iran’s leadership politics
“Ayatollah,” an Arabic term meaning “sign of God” or “divine sign,” is a senior clerical title in Twelver Shiite Islam typically reserved for scholars who have spent decades studying and teaching Islamic jurisprudence and theology in seminaries.
An ayatollah is generally regarded as a mujtahid — a jurist qualified to use independent legal reasoning and issue religious rulings.
While “ayatollah” is fundamentally a religious title, it has become closely intertwined with political authority in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, particularly because the country’s supreme leader is expected to have high-level religious credentials. Shiite Islam is Iran’s official state religion, followed by an estimated 90 to 95 percent of the population.
The title has also taken on heightened political significance in recent years as Iranian state-linked institutions and media increasingly referred to Mojtaba Khamenei as an “ayatollah” as part of an effort to bolster his religious standing.
Before succeeding his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei was widely described as a hojatoleslam, a rank below ayatollah.
Under Iran’s constitution, the supreme leader must be a senior Islamic jurist, and elevating Mojtaba Khamenei’s clerical rank was seen by observers as a way to strengthen the religious legitimacy required for succession.
Analysts say the move also signalled a preference among hard-line power centers, including elements aligned with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, for a continuity candidate during a period of heightened instability, given that Ali Khamenei was killed following a deadly airstrike on the first day of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28.
Some context: A central question looming over the funeral is whether Mojtaba Khamenei will appear to lead prayers for his father.
Mojtaba is believed to have been seriously wounded in that attack, which also killed his mother and his wife. He has remained in hiding since the war began, communicating with his supporters only through written statements, never showing his face or using his voice.
Iran thanks foreign guests for attending slain supreme leader's funeral ceremony
Iran’s foreign ministry expressed its gratitude to foreign guests today who attended a funeral ceremony for slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, despite being faced with what it said was “pressure and threats.”
Several foreign dignitaries were present yesterday at a ceremony to mourn Khamenei, including Iraqi President Nizar Amidi, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, and many others.
The ministry also called on Iranians to participate “massively” in upcoming funeral ceremonies in order to demonstrate to the world “the greatness of Iran and the glory of national unity and power.”
Who was Iran's slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?
To his supporters, Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was the steadfast, fearless leader who transcended mere politics and inspired devotion. To his critics, Iranian and foreign, he was a feared tyrant bent on crushing those opposed to him while keeping his country isolated from the West.
He was only the second leader of the Islamic Republic and by far the longest-serving.
Khamenei, who was born in 1939 in Mashhad, Iran’s holiest city, became a Shiite Muslim cleric at a young age. He was an activist before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, helping to organize protests against the shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and serving time in prison for it.
He was also a target for the new Islamic regime’s opponents and escaped an assassination attempt in 1981 that left his right arm useless.
Not long afterward, he was elected president on a platform deeply hostile to the West and its liberal ideology, and especially to the United States — threatening a hard fight in the event of war.
He was a protégé of Iran’s previous supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the struggle to overthrow the shah and founded the Islamic Republic. When Khomeini died in 1989, Khamenei became his successor within a matter of weeks.
Read more about the late supreme leader in our obituary here.
Anger at US and Israel courses through vast crowds in Iran
Tens of thousands of mourners — the faithful and the loyal clad in black — beat their chests and chanted to mourn Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
From before dawn they flocked to see the five coffins neatly stacked in Tehran’s massive Musalla mosque complex, where inside lay the remains of the late Ayatollah and the relatives killed with him in US-Israeli strikes.
The mood was sorrowful, with tears flowing freely on the faces of many. Among Shia Muslims religious belief is often expressed intensely emotionally, but the loss of the only head of state many Iranians have ever known gave the day added weight.
“I even loved him more than my father. It’s as if I lost my father again,” 30-year old Nafiseh Sadat Sadri told CNN. “I feel that I’ve become an orphan, it burns in my heart.”
Revenge too was on the lips of many.
“I assure you that we will not let [US President Donald Trump] have a good night’s sleep from now on unless we get revenge for the blood of our leader,” Abdullah Abipour, 45, said.
Scrawled in chalk along the blast walls separating sections for men and most women were slogans against the deal with the US.
“No negotiation with Satan” “Curse be upon he who negotiates” “This negotiation is with hypocrite” passers-by added to the white lines of text.
Small numbers of foreign pilgrims, including from Pakistan and Afghanistan, were evident on the streets of Tehran and while tens of thousands of mourners filled the Musalla complex Saturday, we are yet to see the millions the government expect to attend the weekend’s commemorations.
“Once I heard this was going to happen I cancelled my flights,” Afshin, 60, from Arizona told CNN in front of Khamenei’s coffin. Visiting Iran, he’s lived in the US since before the Islamic Revolution of 1978.
“Trump did the worst thing” when he killed Khamenei, he said.
Others described Khamenei’s death as a pivotal moment in Iranian history.
“With his passing nothing has come to an end,” Reza, 25, told CNN. Khamenei’s son will continue his path and philosophy, he said.
Even so, “a more dangerous chapter has begun for his enemies,” the young man added.
CNN operates in Iran only with the permission of the government but maintains full editorial control of its reports.
At least eight ships U-turn during Strait of Hormuz crossing attempt
Several vessels attempting to traverse the Strait of Hormuz earlier today by hugging the Omani coast turned back abruptly, tracking data appears to show, pointing to ongoing difficulties in the critical waterway despite early signs that commercial traffic is starting to recover.
At least five ships — including two vehicle carriers, a chemical tanker, an oil products tanker and a bulk carrier — made a series of sharp U-turns this morning local time, MarineTraffic data suggests.
Tehran insists that ships must have its permission to travel through the strait, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies typically flow, on designated routes. But a growing number of vessels are using a route close to the Omani coast, threatening Iran’s leverage over the waterway.
Meanwhile, at least three more vessels – two oil/chemical tankers and a bulk carrier – which initially turned back around the same time as the other ships later traversed the strait closer to the Iranian side of the waterway.
Stage set up nods to Khamenei's speech making
On the outdoor stage set up at the Grand Mosalla in Tehran, a single chair with a table and microphone is set up, paying tribute to the long speeches given by the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Khamenei was famous for lengthy speeches given from a husseiniyah — a congregation hall used by Shiite Muslims — at his compound in downtown Tehran. His speeches were usually televised on Iranian state media, and often criticized Western foreign policy, particularly that of the United States and Israel.
His addresses were championed by various factions of the Islamic resistance, including those in Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.
How talks between the US and Iran have been progressing
In a speech made at Mount Rushmore yesterday, US President Donald Trump claimed Iran is “dying to settle,” adding: “We gave them a week off for a funeral, because we’re nice.”
Earlier this week, officials from Tehran and Washington traveled to Doha, Qatar for indirect talks on the war. These discussions were paused by Iran ahead of the funeral of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed when the US and Israel began their attacks on Iran on February 28.
Here’s the latest on the talks:
- The separate indirect meetings between US and Iranian negotiators in Doha earlier this week made “positive progress,” Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said Wednesday.
- Al-Ansari also said that that the next meeting between negotiators would be scheduled “at the earliest possible time” after funeral processions for Iran’s former supreme leader.
- US Vice President JD Vance said on Wednesday that the talks were “going well,” though added that it was “still pretty early.”
- Meanwhile, officials from Lebanon and Israel signed a US-brokered agreement last week. Despite this agreement, fighting has continued. Two days after signing the agreement, Israel approved continued military operations in southern Lebanon.
- Earlier this week, Syria’s foreign minister visited Beirut for talks with Lebanese officials, marking his first official trip since Trump raised the possibility of Syrian intervention in Lebanon.
CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq, Hira Humayun, Haley Britzky, Xiaoqian Lin, Tal Shalev, Charbel Mallo, Eugenia Yosef and Oren Liebermann contributed to this reporting.
With Khamenei's funeral processions underway, catch up on other regional developments
As funeral processions for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are underway, here’s a look at recent developments related to the conflict in the Middle East.
- US officials attempted to warn Iran of fears they had that Israel would assassinate meditators during talks this spring, two US officials told CNN.
- Iran warned the United Kingdom and France against any military movement in the Strait of Hormuz, after the countries said they were ready to send their militaries to support freedom of navigation in the critical waterway.
- In a speech at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota yesterday, US President Donald Trump said his country “knocked the hell out of Iran.” Referencing the current funeral processions being held for Khamenei, he said: “They’re dying to settle, they want to settle so badly. We gave them a week off for a funeral, because we’re nice.”
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a phone call with Trump yesterday, the prime minister’s office said, adding that the leaders agreed to meet soon in the US.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Katie Bo Lillis, Alayna Treene, Laura Sharman, Jeff Zeleny, Kit Maher and Eugenia Yosef contributed to this reporting.
US attempted to warn Tehran of fears that Israel would assassinate Iranian mediators
US officials attempted to warn Iran of fears they had that Israel would assassinate meditators during talks this spring, two US officials have told CNN.
The officials said the US worried that Israel might assassinate Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Iranian parliamentary speaker who is leading negotiations with the US, or Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who has also been a public face of the talks. The warnings were communicated through intermediaries, the officials said.
The New York Times first reported on the warnings.
There were no immediate indications yesterday that US intelligence had knowledge of a specific plot that prompted the warning. The top Israeli defense official has been public about Jerusalem’s desire to kill senior Iranian leaders, and US President Donald Trump has in the past made clear that those efforts were complicating negotiations.
In March, he declined to tell reporters who in Iran the US was negotiating with because “I don’t want them to be killed.”
“You know, it’s a little tough,” he said. “They’ve wiped out everybody.”
Responding to the original New York Times story, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office wrote on X: “As usual, The New York Times’ latest story about Israel and the Iranian negotiators is fake news. A complete fabrication of reality.”
A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Washington declined to comment. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
Read more on this story in our full article here.
CNN’s Oren Liebermann contributed to this report.
"We have a blood feud with the US": Mourners gather to pay final respects to slain supreme leader
Some mourners, gathering at the funeral of Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran today, expressed both anguish and a desire for vengeance.
“We will certainly avenge his blood,” Arash Rahimi, 40, told the Reuters news agency earlier. “Everyone here has come to avenge the blood of their Supreme Leader. As our leader has said, we have a blood feud with the United States. Our relations with the United States will never be good.”
Another mourner compared his current feelings to the grief he experienced after his father’s death.
“I have a strange feeling,” said Hamid Teimori, from Iran’s Hamadan Province, “When my father died, I didn’t cry as much as I cried when the Supreme Leader was martyred.”
Iran repeats warning to UK and France against military deployment in Strait of Hormuz
Iran warned the United Kingdom and France against any military movement in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, after the two countries said they were ready to send their militaries to support freedom of navigation in the critical waterway.
“As a responsible power and guarantor of the Strait’s security, Iran warns against any military movement in this waterway,” Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on X.
“The security of Hormuz lies with the coastal states.”
Gharibabadi’s post featured a screenshot of the UK-French declaration from Friday.
Both countries have stepped up efforts to safeguard freedom of navigation and uphold international law in the strait, including hosting a summit with 51 other nations in April.
Earlier this week Iran also pushed back against a statement from France’s President Emmanuel Macron that said France, Oman and others would collaborate on removing mines from the strait. Removing mines from the waterway would be done solely by Iran, Gharibabadi said at the time.
In photos: Mourners congregate at Tehran mosque on first day of supreme leader's funeral
Scores of Iranians, mostly wearing black-colored clothes, gathered at Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla in Tehran on Saturday as the country kicked off a multi-day funeral for its late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The mosque is open to the public for a farewell ceremony. Processions have been scheduled in several locations in Iran and Iraq in the coming days.
Earlier images released by Iranian state media showed people already turning up at the Grand Mosalla on Friday night.
Thousands gather for funeral of Iran's slain supreme leader
Some waving flags, others wiping away tears, thousands have gathered in Tehran for the funeral of Iran’s former supreme leader.
Mourners beat their chests rhythmically in the intense summer heat, the wails of women cutting through the noise as the body of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was unveiled beneath a glass case at the Grand Mosalla.
“Our word is one! Revenge! Revenge!” the crowd chanted, according to the Associated Press.
Live Reuters footage showed hundreds marching along car-free streets, with women carrying bouquets of white flowers.
Others carried banners, while billboards across the city bore Khamenei’s image.
Water jets sprayed mist onto the crowd of mourners, who mostly wore black, with temperatures set to reach 36 degrees Celsius (97 degrees Fahrenheit), according to a forecast from the UK’s Met Office.
“I am here to say goodbye to my beloved leader Ali Khamenei,” Hananeh Mousavi, 27, told the Associated Press. “I never expected to see such a day. I wish I had died before this tragedy.”
Ali Kazemi, who traveled 330 miles (530 kilometers) from the city of Tabriz to attend, said: “We attended the funeral to show that we are all committed to defend our country and religion.”
These are the security threats Iran may face during Khamenei's funeral
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned on Friday against any attempts to target the country in the coming days, ahead of the funeral of slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
This comes after Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was “marked for death,” in comments reported by the Israeli news agency Ynet on Monday.
The Islamic Republic is on watch for any potential attacks that may target the funeral ceremony, where millions of Iranians and several foreign dignitaries are expected to take part.
As crowds gather for the funeral, any attack could kill thousands, while senior Iranian officials appearing in public face the added risk of assassination.
A Reuters video on Friday showed security personnel patrolling the streets of Tehran ahead of funeral processions. Iran also announced the complete closure of airspace over Tehran on Monday.
“There are threats that they are considering from the air and from the ground,” Danny Citrinowitz, former head of the Iran branch of Israel’s military intelligence, told CNN, adding that the Iranians “don’t want to take any chances” and have therefore “heavily guarded everything.”
Questions remain over whether the funeral will mark the first public appearance of Mojtaba Khamenei since his father and family members were killed on the first day of the war.
The United States and Israel are only the external threats Iran faces. The country is also home to several minority groups that have clashed with regime forces in the past, including Kurdish militants, Arab and Baloch separatists, among others.
Iran may also be wary of attacks by the exiled Mujahadin-e Khalq (MeK), which Iran accuses of carrying out attacks inside Iran over several decades.
Citrinowitz said that the appearance of multiple officials, such as IRGC chief Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, may however indicate that they are confident in their security measures despite knowing the risks.
The dayslong funeral for Khamenei has started in Iran. Here's what we know
Crowds gathered on Saturday outside the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla in Tehran as public funeral ceremonies for the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several members of his family began.
Iran has paused indirect talks over ending the war with the US ahead of the multi-day funeral. Its military also warned the US and Israel against “any miscalculation” during the rites.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said the US is giving Iran “a week off for a funeral, because we’re nice.” Speaking on Friday night at Mount Rushmore, he added: “They’re dying to settle, they want to settle so badly.”
Here’s the latest:
- The coffins of several members of Khamenei’s family, including his 14-month-old granddaughter, are on display at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla in Tehran. The mosque opened to the public on Saturday for a farewell ceremony.
- Video from the Reuters news agency showed security personnel patrolling the streets of Tehran ahead of funeral processions, which are expected to take place at multiple locations in Iran and Iraq.
- Officials from China, India and Pakistan are among the international dignitaries attending the funeral, according to their foreign ministries.
- The commander-in-chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, made a rare appearance next to Khamenei’s casket on Friday, according to state broadcaster IRIB.
- The airspace over Tehran will be “completely closed” on Monday for Khamenei’s funeral procession, Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization said.
- Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a phone call with Trump and they agreed to meet “soon,” according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
- Commercial activity in the Strait of Hormuz is recovering despite uncertainty over the waterway’s future, according to data from the maritime risk consultancy Marisks. The leaders of France and the United Kingdom also released a statement saying they are ready to deploy a multinational military mission to support freedom of navigation in the strait.
- In Lebanon, at least 100,000 children risk missing out on school unless classrooms damaged by Israeli strikes are urgently repaired or rebuilt before September, the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF has warned.
CNN’s Issy Ronald, Aida Karimi, Nadeen Ebrahim and Mustafa Qadri contributed reporting.
Here are the events scheduled during Khamenei's funeral
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s funeral will last for several days. Here’s what to expect in the coming days:
- July 4 – The public part of the funeral begins Saturday 6 a.m. local time when Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Mosalla opens for a continuous 24-hour farewell ceremony.
- July 5 – The second day is dedicated to funeral prayers for Khamenei and members of his family, after which the public farewell ceremony will continue.
- July 6 – This is when the main funeral procession in Tehran will happen. The ceremony is expected to begin at 6 a.m. local time, and the procession, which includes funeral prayers, will follow the 10-kilometer distance from Imam Hossein Square to Azadi Square.
- July 7 – Prayers will be held at the Jamkaran Mosque in Qom, an important holy city about 150 kilometers south of Tehran. A funeral procession may also be held here, if conditions allow.
- July 8 – Khamenei’s body will be transported to the Iraqi city of Najaf, as the regime seeks to show its revolutionary ideology can still transcend its borders. There will be an official reception attended by Iraq’s prime minister, senior government officials and religious leaders before the cortege travels to the Imam Ali Shrine, an important pilgrimage site for Shiite Muslims. Afterward, the body will travel by helicopter to the Shrine of Imam Hussein in Karbala, about 80 kilometers away, before flying back to Iran.
- July 9 – Khamenei will be buried at the Imam Reza shrine, one of Shiite Islam’s holiest sites, in Mashhad, the town where he was born.
