Trump: US gave Iran week off for Khamenei’s funeral
Shafaq News- Washington
US President Donald Trump claimed Washington paused negotiations with Iran for a week to allow funeral rites for Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to proceed, arguing that the decision was made “because we're nice.”
Speaking at a gathering at Mount Rushmore on Friday evening marking the 250th anniversary of US independence, Trump asserted that the United States had “knocked the hell out of Iran” and that Tehran was “dying to settle.”
Official mourning ceremonies for Khamenei, who ruled the Islamic Republic for 37 years before being killed in a joint US-Israeli strike on Feb. 28, began at dawn on July 3, according to Iranian state media.
Iranian authorities attributed the more than four-month delay before the funeral to wartime conditions and security concerns. Ali Akbar Pourjamshidian, secretary of the national funeral committee, noted that officials from more than 30 countries and religious representatives from over 90 nations had requested to attend, estimating participation in Tehran's procession at between 12 million and 20 million people.
Crowds returned before dawn on Saturday for a second day of observances at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Mosalla, the capital's main venue for major state and religious gatherings, filling the prayer hall, surrounding streets, and access roads. State media had reported that the mourning period will last about a week, with events scheduled in Iraq on July 7 before Khamenei is laid to rest in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad on July 9.
Iran had earlier cautioned the United States and Israel against military action during the funeral period, with Ali Abdollahi, commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, warning that Tehran would respond “harshly and immediately” to any attack and urging Washington and Tel Aviv to weigh the consequences of further escalation.
