Red flags waved over the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's funeral in Tehran weren't just mourning symbols—they were a message from Iran's most hard-line camp: Keep fighting the US, the New York Times reports. The Shiite banners of revenge, analysts say, were part of a broader push by ultraconservatives to lock in a confrontational course as Iran's power structure is in flux following Khamenei's killing in a US-Israeli strike and the ensuing war. His son and successor, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has barely been seen since reportedly being gravely wounded in the strikes, adding to uncertainty over who is steering Tehran's response.
That response turned sharper as a fragile ceasefire collapsed and the US and Iran resumed strikes over control of the Strait of Hormuz, threatening a June memorandum meant to frame future talks. The Revolutionary Guards' growing dominance has sidelined the usual political factions, but hard-liners—estimated to be up to one-fifth of the population—are pressing their case loudly, reflected in calls to fully shut the strait and a newspaper editorial headlined "We Want Trump's Head." Iran's leadership is keeping talks alive so far, but distrust of Washington runs deep after the US quit the 2015 nuclear deal, and many in Tehran assume any new agreement could be torn up, too. On Saturday, per Axios, Khamenei, who didn't appear at the funeral, said revenge for his father's assassination "will most certainly be carried out."
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