TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Iran began state funerals on Saturday for some 60 people, including its military commanders, killed in the war with Israel, after Tehran's top diplomat slammed Donald Trump's comments about supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as "unacceptable."
The procession in Tehran for the nuclear scientists and military commanders killed in the Israeli strikes began at 8:00 a.m. local time.
"The ceremony to honor the martyrs has officially begun," state television said, as reported by Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera, showing footage of tens of thousands of people wearing black, waving Iranian flags and holding photos of the slain military commanders.
Images showed coffins draped in Iranian flags and bearing portraits of the slain commanders in uniform near Enghelab Square in central Tehran.
The United States launched strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend, joining its ally Israel in bombing Iran's nuclear program. This was Israel's surprise attack during the 12-day war that began on June 13.
Both Israel and Iran have claimed victory in the war that ended in a ceasefire, while Khamenei downplayed the US strikes as “not achieving anything significant.”
In a rant on his Truth Social platform, Trump slammed Tehran on Friday for claiming to have won the war.
He also claimed to know “EXACTLY where he (Khamenei) is hiding, and will not allow Israel, or the US Armed Forces… to end his life.”
“I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND EMBARRASSING DEATH, and he doesn’t have to say, ‘THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP!’” the US leader said.
Trump added that he had been pushing in recent days for the possible lifting of sanctions on Iran, one of Tehran’s key demands.
“But no, instead I was bombarded with angry, hateful and disgusting statements, and immediately stopped all work on lifting sanctions, etc.,” Trump said.
Responding to Trump on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi slammed the Republican president's comments about Khamenei.
"If President Trump is serious about a deal, he should put aside his disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei," Araghchi wrote on the social media platform X.
"The Great and Powerful Iranian People, who showed the world that the Israeli regime has NO CHOICE but to RUN to 'Father' to avoid being destroyed by our Missiles, do not take Threats and Insults well."
Israeli attacks on Iran have killed at least 627 civilians, Tehran's health ministry said. Iranian attacks on Israel have killed 28 people, according to Israel.
The ceremony in Tehran "to honor the martyrs" will be followed by a funeral procession to Azadi Square, some 11 kilometers (7 miles) across the sprawling metropolis.
Mohsen Mahmoudi, head of Tehran's Islamic Development Coordination Council, vowed that it would be a "historic day for Islamic Iran and the revolution."
Among the dead was Mohammad Bagheri, a major general in Iran's Revolutionary Guards and second in command of the armed forces after the Iranian leader.
He will be buried next to his wife and daughter, a journalist for a local media outlet, all killed in the Israeli strike.
Nuclear scientist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, who was also killed in the strike, will be buried alongside his wife.
Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami, who was killed on the first day of the war, will also be buried after Saturday's ceremony -- which will also honor at least 30 other top commanders.
Of the 60 people to be buried after the ceremony, four are children.
During his first term, Trump withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal in 2018 -- negotiated by former US president Barack Obama.
The deal Trump scrapped was intended to make it nearly impossible for Iran to build an atomic bomb, while at the same time allowing it to pursue a civilian nuclear program.
Iran, which insists its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only, has stepped up its activities since Trump withdrew from the accord.
After the US strike, Trump said negotiations for a new deal would begin next week.
Tehran, however, has denied any resumption of talks. Khamenei said Trump had “exaggerated events in an unusual way,” rejecting US claims that Iran’s nuclear program has been in decline for decades.
Israel claims it “thwarted Iran’s nuclear project” during the 12-day war.
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