United States And Iran Trade Strikes Ahead Of Ali Khamenei Burial In Mashhad

New fighting erupted between the United States and Iran ahead of the burial of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Thursday (July 9, 2026), with Tehran targeting U.S. regional allies and American strikes hitting the perimeter of an Iranian nuclear power plant.

The Hindu said the burial in Mashhad in northeast Iran followed a week of mass funeral processions, rallies and mourning ceremonies, and it described the exchange of attacks as the second day in a row that the decades-old foes traded strikes.

Al Jazeera

The Hindu reported that Iranian officials said U.S. strikes killed 17 people and that state media said one targeted a railway line between Tehran and the eastern city of Mashhad, where Khamenei’s burial is being held.

BBC said Iran held a stand still for the burial in Mashhad, describing huge crowds in the holy city and the end of six days of public mourning ceremonies for five cities across Iran and neighbouring Iraq.

BBC also tied the burial to the renewed fighting, saying the burial came after an exchange of strikes between Iran and US that threatened to pause one preliminary deal they said they would get to end the war.

CNN reported that while funeral prayers took place before the coffin of Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Sunday, many top officials and three of the ayatollah’s sons were present, but some former presidents at odds with the current regime were noticeably missing.

CNN said the absence of former public figures cast doubt on Tehran’s “unity” mantra, and it quoted US-based Iran expert Arash Azizi saying that “the organizing committee of the funeral had the opportunity to project regime unity by including figures such as pro-reform former presidents.”

BBC

CNN also quoted Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, Ali Vaez, saying, “Tehran wants to project that it can lose its supreme leader without losing its continuity of governance.”

The BBC described the mourning crowds in Mashhad as waving Iranian flags and red banners symbolising vengeance, and it said some people held placards calling for the death of U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

BBC added that banners with official slogans included "We must rise" and that Hoda, a 35-year-old housewife, told AFP news agency: "Only di death of Trump and Netanyahu go ease our pain."

DW said Iran was entering a new political era as Iranians prepared to bury slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in his hometown of Mashhad in northeastern Iran, while his son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei remained hidden from public view after being disfigured in the US air strike that killed his father.

“As funeral prayers took place before the coffin of Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Sunday, many top officials and three of the ayatollah’s sons were present”

CNN

DW reported that the younger Khamenei was conspicuously absent from even the official mourning ceremonies for his father, and it said the war began on February 28 with US and Israeli attacks and ended nearly six weeks later in a fragile ceasefire.

DW also described how the conflict gave way to a diplomatic process in which Mojtaba Khamenei eventually approved negotiations, and it said a statement attributed to him and circulated by state media claimed he agreed to negotiations after President Pezeshkian assured him he would “safeguard the rights of the Iranian people and the interests of the Axis of Resistance.”

The Hindu said Khamenei’s burial in Mashhad followed a week of mass funeral processions and mourning ceremonies, and it described the burial as being held with his son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei still hidden from public view after being disfigured in the strike that killed his father.

BBC said Khamenei’s funeral events culminated Thursday with his burial in Mashhad, and it reported that Trump warned U.S. attacks could get "much worse" after a second night of strikes on Thursday.