State Funeral
TEHRAN: Iran has announced that it will hold state funerals on Saturday for several top military commanders and leading scientists who lost their lives during the country’s recent 12-day conflict with Israel.
The announcement, made by the state-run news agency IRNA on Wednesday, comes just a day after a fragile ceasefire came into effect between the two arch-rivals.
According to IRNA, the national funeral ceremony will commence at 8:00 am local time (0430 GMT) in the capital, Tehran. The service will honor those who were killed in what Iran has termed the “Zionist regime’s aggression”—a reference to the large-scale military assault launched by Israel earlier this month.
The Iranian authorities have confirmed that the state funeral will include several high-ranking figures from both the military and scientific community. These individuals, the government says, played vital roles in national defense and technological advancement and were specifically targeted by Israeli strikes.
One of the most high-profile casualties was Hossein Salami, the chief of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Salami, known for his close association with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his hardline anti-Israel stance, was killed on June 13, the very first day of the Israeli offensive. He will be laid to rest on Thursday in his hometown in central Iran, ahead of Saturday’s national ceremony.
The war, sparked by escalating tensions and regional provocations, saw Israel unleash a coordinated aerial and missile campaign aimed at crippling Iran’s military and nuclear infrastructure.
Key nuclear facilities and military installations were hit, and several top officials were killed in what observers describe as a strategic and symbolic blow to Iran’s defense apparatus.
The human cost of the war has been devastating. According to Iran’s health ministry, at least 610 civilians have been killed, and over 4,700 people have been wounded, as residential areas were also struck during the bombardments. Many families are still searching for missing relatives amid the rubble of destroyed neighborhoods.
Iran responded with a series of retaliatory strikes on Israeli territory, which, according to official figures from Tehran, resulted in 28 deaths. However, the broader regional fallout of the conflict continues to unfold, with both nations remaining on high alert despite the ceasefire.
As the country prepares for the funerals, national mourning has deepened. The Saturday ceremony is expected to draw massive crowds, including high-ranking government officials, members of the armed forces, and citizens from across the country. The event is being framed not only as a tribute to the fallen but also as a moment of national defiance and unity in the face of foreign aggression.
With tensions still simmering beneath the surface, the funerals could also serve as a powerful political statement from Tehran as it recalibrates its strategy in a region fraught with conflict and rivalries.
