The view from Tehran: Anger and vengeance in the air as Iran buries its longest-serving leader

By Joseph Ataman, Frederik Pleitgen and Claudia Otto, CNN

Tehran, Iran (CNN) — It’s been a historic week in Iran.

For just the second time in the nearly 50-year history of the Islamic Republic, the country has buried a supreme leader. Ali Khamenei ruled Iran – as a spiritual leader and an iron-fisted autocrat – for nearly four decades. For many in Iran, he’s the only leader they have known.

Then, as the frenzied funeral events reached their climax, US bombs and missiles struck across the country in retaliation at Iranian strikes on civilian shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Just months ago, these strikes would have been an earthquake for the region. But after two wars in nine months, there was a sense of tired resignation when news of the airstrikes hit Tehran Wednesday.

Just a week in the Iranian capital has offered an eye-opening insight into where the country is today.

Show of power

The government claimed north of 10 million mourners attended funeral events for the late Ayatollah Khamenei this week. An independent assessment of the numbers is almost impossible, but in Tehran, hundreds of thousands at least flooded streets for Monday’s funeral procession. Much of the 20-kilometer (12-mile) marching route was a river of black-clad mourners carrying the red flags of martyrdom and revenge.

While many in Tehran chose to (literally) distance themselves from the funeral – we drove into Tehran past traffic jams as locals left the city to enjoy the nationwide holiday elsewhere – the funeral events were filled with Shia faithful and those loyal to the government.

The weight of support evident this week puts into question the notion that regime change in Iran is a feasible proposition for Iran’s enemies abroad – after all, US President Donald Trump called for the Iranian people to overthrow their leadership when the US and Israel launched their war on the country in February.

Boiling anger

The funeral events – especially Monday’s procession through Tehran – were highly emotional affairs. That’s not unusual among followers of Shia Islam, whose tradition is one of outward displays of faith. But the funeral seemed deeply personal for many present.

“I even loved him more than my father. It’s as if I lost my father again,” 30-year-old Nafiseh Sadat Sadri told CNN. “I feel that I’ve become an orphan, it burns in my heart.”

“He was our leader. He was a great man,” 25-year-old Fatemeh said. “I am going to continue his path.” She had driven through the night from the central Iranian city of Kashan to catch the funeral procession.

Others wanted payback.

“We have come here to avenge the blood of our leader, and not for one second will we put this aside,” a young woman named Mahtab Ehsani told CNN as the crowd waited for Khamenei’s coffin on Monday. “Blood must be repaid with blood.”

“We will not rest until we have killed Trump,” said Ghassem Kalateh, a cleric from Tehran.

The call came from officials too. This week “was not merely a farewell ceremony and mourning, but… a call for vengeance for that beloved figure, signed by millions of grieving mourners,” Iran’s Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a statement Thursday.

Anger at America – and above all Trump – was everywhere. Every day, dozens of mourners would come up to us with promises to kill the US president in revenge for the assassination of their leader.

Throat-slitting gestures and chants of “kill Trump” and “death to America” chants were common reactions to seeing a team of international journalists, though the CNN team also encountered greetings of “welcome,” polite questions and selfie requests.

During this year’s Ramadan war, the mood was much darker.

With many fearful for their safety as US bombs fell from Iran’s nighttime skies with no warning, there was far more open hostility on the street. Public anger was more raw as the country grappled with a largely unchecked hail of bombs from the sky.

Painful choice

That doesn’t mean we only heard blind obedience to the party line.

“I’m criticizing the authorities of my own country,” Tayyebeh Sadat, a government worker from Tehran, told CNN. “When they were supposed to give the right response to those people overseas, they didn’t do so. Negotiations were against the will of the nation. They have wasted all the efforts of our armed forces.”

Scrawled in chalk on the walls segregating men and women at the giant Mosalla mosque complex where Khamenei lay in state this week were slogans of “no negotiation with Satan” and “curse be upon he who negotiates.” Meanwhile, video circulated on social media by both pro and anti-government accounts this week puportedly showing a rock being thrown at the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as he walked through the streets of Tehran. CNN has not been able to independently verify the video.

Relaxing punishing American-led sanctions is central to any negotiated deal with the US. Still, some would choose the dire economic hardships thrust upon Iranians over a deal with Trump’s White House.

The country is currently struggling with unemployment of around 8%, the UN estimates, and inflation that is running at what the World Bank estimates to be more than 40%. Even before the war, the economy was struggling: national per-capita income had dropped from around $8,000 in 2012 to $5,000 in 2024.

The government’s monthslong internet shutdown also strangled parts of the economy – especially those with foreign clients – that relied on the world wide web.

What is clear is that there is no trust in Iran towards the US. Twice, ongoing negotiations were T-boned by US-led bombing campaigns. In Trump’s first term, he unilaterally pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal that had taken years of careful negotiation to weave together with European allies.

Seeing different

Before the Memorandum of Understanding – and its fragile ceasefire – collapsed on Wednesday, it was clear that the two sides were reading the agreement very differently. Take Clause 5: Iran “will make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge, for 60 days only …” going on to say that Iran will discuss the “future administration and maritime services” with neighboring Oman.

The Trump administration repeatedly said that meant a return to pre-war, toll-free transit conditions for the strait. In Iran, Tehran’s slightly different reading of that same clause had them already planning maritime service fees for ships in transit – tolls by another name. The Iranians also saw themselves as responsible for setting the conditions of transit through the strait, according to Iranian officials.

As on many things, the view from Tehran looks very different.

CNN operates in Iran only with the permission of the government but maintains full editorial control of its reports.

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