Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, did not appear at public funeral ceremonies for his father, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, despite expectations that he would attend.
State television on Sunday showed three of Ali Khamenei's sons, Mostafa, Meysam and Masoud, praying beside the coffins of the slain Iranian leader and four other family members at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla. However, there was no sign of Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his father after he was killed in a February 28 airstrike during the Iran-Israel war.
Reuters reported that no public images of Mojtaba have been released since the attack, with sources close to his inner circle saying he suffered serious injuries, including facial disfigurement and significant wounds to one or both legs.
His absence sparked disappointment among some mourners attending the ceremonies. One woman told Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency that seeing the new supreme leader had been "our only wish."
The funeral events come as Iran stages a week of mass mourning ceremonies for Ali Khamenei, whose remains are set to be taken to major Shi'ite religious sites in both Iran and Iraq before his burial.
