TEHRAN, June 28, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Iran held a state funeral Saturday for some 
60 scientists and commanders killed in its war with Israel, after its top 
diplomat condemned the latest White House tirade against supreme leader 
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

State television aired footage of thousands of black-clad mourners chanting 
"Death to America" and "Death to Israel" as they held aloft photographs of 
the dead.

"Boom, boom, Tel Aviv," read one banner, referring to the retaliatory missile 
fire launched by Iran against Israel during their 12-day war.

State television showed mock-ups of ballistic missiles like those Iran fired 
at Israel alongside coffins draped in Iranian flags.

President Masoud Pezeshkian attended the ceremony as did Rear Admiral Ali 
Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Khamenei who used a walking cane after being 
wounded in an Israeli strike in the war, the television images showed.

But the supreme leader himself stayed away. Khamenei had delivered a video 
address on Thursday to proclaim "victory" in the conflict which ended with a 
truce earlier this week.

- No surrender -

As the funeral procession wound its way across the spawling metropolis, 
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi paid tribute to the war effort in a post on 
his Instagram account.

"Iranians gave blood, not land; gave their loved ones, not honour; they 
withstood a thousand-ton rain of bombs, but did not surrender," the top 
diplomat said, adding that Iran does not recognise the word "surrender."

Among the dead was armed forces chief of staff Major General Mohammad 
Bagheri, who will be buried with his wife and journalist daughter who were 
killed alongside him.

Nuclear scientist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, also killed in the attacks, will 
be laid to rest with his wife.

Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami, killed on the first day of the 
war, will be buried on Sunday.

Of the 60 people who are to be laid to rest after the ceremony, four are 
children and four are women.

- 'RUN to 'Daddy'' -

The United States carried out strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites last 
weekend, joining its ally Israel's bombardment of Iran's nuclear facilities.

Both Israel and Iran claimed victory in the war. 

Israel said it had "thwarted Iran's nuclear project" and threatened renewed 
military action if it attempted to rebuild it.

Washington insisted its strikes had set Iran's nuclear programme back by 
years.

Khamenei said they had done "nothing significant".

Trump launched an outspoken tirade against the Iranian leader on his Truth 
Social platform on Friday for claiming to have won the war.

The US president claimed that he had had known "EXACTLY where (Khamenei) was 
sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the U.S. Armed Forces... terminate 
his life".

"I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH, and he does not have to 
say, 'THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP!'" Trump said.

Trump said he had been working in recent days on the possible removal of 
sanctions against Iran, one of Tehran's main demands.

"But no, instead I get hit with a statement of anger, hatred, and disgust, 
and immediately dropped all work on sanction relief, and more."

The Iranian foreign minister hit back on Saturday, using the US president's 
trademark capitals.

"If President Trump is genuine about wanting a deal, he should put aside the 
disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran's Supreme Leader, Grand 
Ayatollah Khamenei," Araghchi posted on X.

"The Great and Powerful Iranian People, who showed the world that the Israeli 
regime had NO CHOICE but to RUN to 'Daddy' to avoid being flattened by our 
Missiles, do not take kindly to Threats and Insults."

Israeli strikes killed at least 627 civilians, the Iranian health ministry 
said. Iran's retaliatory fire on Israel killed 28 people, according to 
Israeli figures.

After the US strikes, Trump said new nuclear talks with Iran were set to 
begin next week.

But Iran denied any such plan, and its parliament passed legislation this 
week suspending cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic 
Energy Agency.