TEHRAN: Three of late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei's sons made a rare public appearance at his funeral on Sunday but there was still no sign of his successor and other son, Mojtaba Khamenei.
Crowds of thousands filled the Grand Mosalla religious complex in Tehran for the second day in a row to attend the funeral ceremonies of Khamenei and four family members killed on February 28 in Israeli airstrikes based on US intelligence.
As well as laying to rest the man who ruled the Islamic republic for over three-and-a-half decades, the funerals are a chance for the Iranian authorities to burnish their resilience after five weeks at war with Israel and the US.
Iran's speaker of parliament and chief negotiator with the United States, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, one of the most prominent faces of the post-Ali Khamenei era, hailed on X how the "proud and invincible nation of Islamic Iran unanimously" paid tribute to its "martyr".
A funeral procession is planned for Monday in Tehran, followed by similar events in the clerical hub of Qom on Tuesday and in Iraq's holy cities of Najaf and Karbala on Wednesday, culminating in Khamenei's burial in his hometown of Mashhad in northeastern Iran on Thursday.
The ceremonies on Sunday were marked by the appearance of Ali Khamenei's eldest son Mostafa and the two younger siblings Masoud and Meysam, all clerics.
'Blessed end'
But their presence further highlighted the absence from the funeral ceremonies of Mojtaba Khamenei, who was named supreme leader shortly after his father's killing but has yet to appear in public.
Officials have said he was wounded in the airstrikes but the severity of his injuries remains unclear. So far, Mojtaba Khamenei has only communicated through written statements amid speculation he is too badly wounded or too concerned over the risks of being targeted to emerge.
The remaining days of the funerals -- in particular the burial on Thursday -- will be closely watched to see if Mojtaba Khamenei appears in public.
The new commander of the powerful Revolutionary Guards, Ahmad Vahidi, whose predecessor was killed in the February 28 strikes, appeared at the funerals for a second time on Sunday, this time in the open air, after he went unseen throughout the war.
Esmail Qaani, the shadowy head of the Guards' Quds Force -- responsible for its foreign operations -- also made a rare appearance, telling Iranian TV that Khamenei's "blessed end" was fitting after a lifetime of "striving".
While Iranian authorities have been keen to present a united front, none of President Masoud Pezeshkian's surviving predecessors -- Mohammad Khatami, Mahmood Ahmadinejad and Hassan Rouhani who all had tensions in their relationship with Khamenei -- have so far been seen at the ceremonies.
'Demand revenge'
The government is also eager to tout the mass mobilisation in support of the authorities after mass protests in January that rights groups say were quelled by a crackdown that left thousands dead.
With Sunday a public holiday across Iran, crowds thronged the vast religious complex, kept cool by a sprinkler system in temperatures of 35C and overlooked by a giant portrait of Ali Khamenei.
The Middle East war is on hold following a ceasefire and an initial accord struck with the US. But both Washington and Tehran have warned they are ready to resume military action, and vengeance has been a major theme at the funerals.
"The killers (of Khamenei) must face punishment," a 38-year-old man who gave his surname as Miremadi told AFP as he attended the prayers.
"We're here to show the world that we back our revolution and our leader, and we demand revenge for the blood of our loved ones," added a 39-year-old woman who gave her surname as Bakand.
Khamenei long pursued a course of confrontation with the West, and Tehran for years has provided support to anti-US and anti-Israel armed groups around the Middle East, including Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah who both sent delegations to the ceremonies.
The visiting head of the Hamas political bureau, Mohammed Darwish, on Sunday met Ghalibaf who told him "we do not have peace with America and will not recognise Israel", state television said.
Iran's army commander Amir Hatami meanwhile told state TV he had vowed to Mojtaba Khamenei that he "will not let go of the collar of those who killed" the new leader's father.