In a ” decapitation strike” in the early hours of the unprovoked war on Iran, U.S. and Israeli bombs killed the Iranian Supreme Leader, 86-yr-old Ali Khamenei. In addition, probably forty of senior Iranian leaders and officials. Moreover, many family members were either killed or seriously injured. So, Khamenei’s wife, Mansoureh Kojasteh Bagherzadeh, was killed and an unnamed daughter and a grandchild as well.
Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba, who was seriously injured but appointed shortly afterwards by Iran’s Assembly of Experts new Supreme Leader, lost, besides his mother, his wife Zahra Haddad-Adel, his son Bagher, an unnamed daughter and a grandchild; as well as his brother-in-law Misbah al-Huda Bagheri Kani.
Traditional Islamic law dictates that a deceased person should be buried as soon as possible, ideally within 24 hours.
It is certainly remarkable that Khamenei’s remains lay unburied for months, probably due to security concerns and, likely, internal power struggles. Now, Iranian media have announced that a special coordinating body is organizing a final, “grand” public ceremony.
For Iran, the war appears to be over. They are merely waiting for Trump, who lost interest long ago, to make his exit from the Gulf region.
Trump’s disappointments are manifold: The Gulf states will not join the silly Abraham Accords. It will be impossible to broker a deal with Iran—one acceptable to Netanyahu, at least—that contains even the slightest concession regarding future uranium enrichment. The Strait remains closed, at least to those unwilling to come to an arrangement with the Persian Gulf Strait Authority. A deal comparable to the Obama agreement, let alone a superior one, remains a distant prospect.
I am very much concerned about the common people right now living in Iran. Therefore, I am going to soon post a review of Erika Friedl’s Women of Deh Koh – Lives in an Iranian Village after re-reading the book of 1989. I am also re-reading her husband Reinhold Loeffler’s Islam in Practice who had interviewed various men in Deh Koh before and after the Islamic Revolution.
Loeffler’s interview with the Mullah gives some remarkable insights in Shi’ite Muslim’s believes about what will happen if one dies.
Q: What happens after death?
A: In the first night after the burial, the should of a deceased, which has been around somewhere, re-enters the body in the grave and the two angels Nakīr and Munkar descend to question the person about past faith and deeds. At this interrogation it becomes manifest whether the person is destined for heaven or for hell. In the first case, the should is carried to a pleasant place near Najaf where, through a pen gat, it is allowed to look into paradise. In the other case, the soul is carried to a place of torment where a gate to hell is open. The souls stay in these places until the Day of Judgment. It is not known when the Day of Judgment will come, not even the prophet and the Imāms knew it: only God knows. On that day all bodies of the dead will come to life again and God will is in judgment over all men as their sins and merits are weighed on the scales. Then a person will be taken either to hell or to heaven. Hell is like a hard and arduous prison of torment and fire where people stay – similar to sentences in this word – for one year, two years, or longer, or even eternally. In paradise there are ranks according to merits: those of higher standing live, for example, in better quarters – such as houses of sultans – than others.
May Ali Khamenei (and his martyred family) rest in peace.
30 May 2026 @ 11: 40 UTC+2.
Last modified May 30, 2026.