Over the past few days, it has been nearly impossible to avoid coverage of the funeral for Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader who was killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli air strike on February 28. Carefully choreographed footage shows seas of mourners dressed in black, filling the streets, as crowds chant “Death to America” and wave the flag of the Iranian regime.
Based on the images the regime is broadcasting, one could easily conclude that the country has come to a standstill to mourn its fallen leader. But for anyone watching the funeral, which began Saturday and ends Thursday, I have one piece of advice: Don’t take what you’re seeing at face value.
In the months since Khamenei’s death, I have received hundreds of messages from friends and contacts inside Iran. They are not messages of grief but of disbelief, relief and, when people feel safe enough, joy. A woman from Isfahan told me in March that she had been dancing in the street with strangers. A man in Tehran sent a voice note laughing so hard he could barely speak. Then he caught himself: “Don’t use my name.”
He was still afraid. They are always afraid.
The Islamic Republic has billed this week’s ceremony as the largest state funeral in Iran’s history: a six-day spectacle, complete with processions through multiple cities and red flags of revenge billowing over those gathered at the Grand Mosalla. But the people who sent me those messages were not attending. They were heading to the coast.
