Iran's supreme leader absent as senior officials attend ayatollah's funeral

Iran's supreme leader absent as senior officials attend ayatollah's funeralImage source, ReutersImage caption, Leaders including Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian were in attendance for the former supreme leader's funeral, but Mojtaba Khamenei was absentByOlivia IrelandPublished35 minutes agoIran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was conspicuously absent from his father's funeral, as senior regime figures joined thousands paying their respects to the late ayatollah on Sunday.Ali Khamenei's other three sons - Masoud, Mostafa and Meysam - all attended the service on Sunday, alongside officials including President Masoud Pezeshkian and Revolutionary Guards chief Ahmad Vahidi.Speculation about Mojtaba's condition - fuelled by rumours he was wounded in the same US-Israel air strikes that killed his father - has continued as he has not appeared in public since his appointment in early March.The elder Khamenei ruled the Islamic republic from 1989 until his death in February.Official funeral proceedings for late supreme leader began on Friday, with events planned across Iran and Iraq over the coming week. Iranian authorities say 12-20 million people are expected to attend the ceremonies, which they are calling the "funeral of the century".Khamenei's body is currently lying in state at Tehran's Grand Mosalla religious complex, with a funeral service led by prominent Shia cleric Jafar Sobhani, a 97-year-old scholar who teaches at seminaries in the holy city of Qom. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, More than 10 million people are expected attend the funeral ceremonies in Tehran aloneSunday was declared a public holiday across Iran, and later in the day Khamenei's body will be moved out of the Grand Mosalla ahead of a processions through the capital on Monday.Other than Mojtaba Khamenei's absence, the ceremony has been carefully choreographedThe ceremonies have been carefully choreographed and Mojtaba Kh...