Tehran held a “symbolic” funeral with a large crowd on Friday for Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike last week, ending three decades of terrorist plotting and authoritarian rule.
Hezbollah said Israeli airstrikes made it unsafe to hold a proper burial for Nasrallah in Lebanon.
The Tehran eulogy for Nasrallah was held during Friday prayers at the Grand Prayer Hall, presided over by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei does not normally lead the public prayer service; the last time he did so was after Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani was killed by a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad in 2020.
The Iranian cleric hailed Hassan Nasrallah as a “dear brother and a source of pride.”
“Nasrallah was the flag of resistance, the voice of the oppressed. Under his leadership Hezbollah grew one step after the other. The enemy thought it could defeat it by killing its leaders, by destruction and harm to civilians but it was unable to hurt Hamas, Hezbollah, the Islamic Jihad and other movements,” he said.
The few surviving Hamas and Hezbollah leaders might quibble with Khamenei’s assertion that Israeli attacks have been “unable to hurt them.” Later in his tirade, Khamenei admitted Iran’s proxies have suffered heavy losses, but he urged them to fight on, to the death of every last non-Iranian if necessary.
“The bloodshed must not weaken your resolve. The resistance will not back down because of the death of its people, and victory will be hers,” he declared.
Meanwhile, Lebanese government officials said Nasrallah has been “temporarily buried until the circumstances allow for a public funeral.” Hezbollah leaders were reportedly too frightened of Israeli strikes to hold a public funeral event for their slain leader.
Lebanese sources said Hezbollah sought “guarantees” from the United States that a mass funeral could be safely held for Nasrallah. When no such guarantee was offered, Hezbollah decided Israeli airstrikes made it too dangerous to hold a public service in the districts of Lebanon under its control.
An adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said on social media that Nasrallah could be buried “next to Imam Hussein in Karbala.”
Karbala is a Shiite holy city in Iraq. It is the final resting place of Muhammad’s grandson Hussein, whose death in the 1st Century created the violent schism between Sunni and Shiite Muslims that persists to this day.
It was not clear if Hezbollah has accepted the Iraqi government’s offer to bury Nasrallah in Karbala, as other rumors have suggested he will be interred somewhere in Lebanon, or might already have been buried in secret.
