Live: Iran holds funeral for top military, nuclear figures killed in Israeli strikes
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Thousands of mourners have gathered in Tehran to attend what Iran had announced as a “historic” funeral for top military officials, nuclear scientists, who were killed by Israeli strikes in the so-called 12-day war against Israel.
“The ceremony to honour the martyrs has officially started,” Iranian state TV said, while airing footage of mourners wearing black clothes and waving Iranian flags.
Other funeral processions are expected to take place in different cities across the country.
The commemorations were planned to begin at 8am local time (4.30am GMT) at Enghelab (Revolution) Square in central Tehran, followed by a funeral procession to Azadi (Freedom) Square, about 11km away.
"Tomorrow will be a historic day for Islamic Iran and the revolution," said Mohsen Mahmoudi, head of Tehran's Islamic Development Coordination Council, in a televised interview on Friday.
Among the dead are General Mohammad Bagheri, a major-general in Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and the second-in-command of the armed forces after supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and nuclear scientist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi.
Four women and four children are among those to be honoured at the funeral ceremony.
Israeli strikes killed at least 30 top commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, according to local media, including its commander-in-chief, Hossein Salami, and the head of its aerospace forces, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who oversaw the country's ballistic missile programme.
The Iranian health ministry says at least 627 civilians were killed and nearly 4,900 wounded in the Israeli attacks, while Iran's strikes on Israel also killed 28 people, according to Israeli authorities.
Last week, US president Donald Trump announced a ceasefire that he has brokered between Iran and Israel to end the war.
US President Donald Trump dismissed media reports that said there were discussions about the possibility of helping Iran receive $30 billion to build a civilian nuclear program.
Citing officials, CNN and NBC have reported that the Trump administration had discussed possible financial preliminary proposals for Iran in return of ending its uranium activity.
Trump called the reports a “HOAX”.
"Who in the Fake News Media is the SleazeBag saying that 'President Trump wants to give Iran $30 Billion to build non-military Nuclear facilities.' Never heard of this ridiculous idea," Trump wrote on Truth Social late on Friday.
Earlier this week, Trump announced a ceasefire in the so-called 12-day war between Israel and Iran.
Good morning Middle East Eye readers,
Here are the latest developments from Israel's war on Iran:
- US president Donald Trump said on Saturday that Iran must return to the ‘international system, or things will get worse for it,’ adding that in the final phase of the war, Israel demanded the return of a very large group of aircraft that were heading directly to Tehran
- A report by Bloomberg said that Israel has estimated the cost of the damage it incurred during its so-called 12-day war with Iran at approximately $3 billion, with funds required to rebuild missile-hit buildings and pay compensation to local businesses
- The US Senate did not pass a resolution that aimed at limiting Trump’s powers to escalate the war with Iran and that would have compelled him to seek the Congress’s approval of another military action against Tehran
- Israeli Maariv newspaper quoted Avigdor Lieberman, member of the Israeli Knesset, as saying that his country didn't end the war in Iran as it should have, and that Israel reached a ceasefire without an agreement, describing this as the ‘worst thing’.
Our live blog will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.
Here are the day's key developments:
- US President Donald Trump repeatedly insisted on Friday that Iran wants to resume negotiations on its nuclear program with the US. A day earlier, Iran's foreign minister said there were no such plans.
- Trump also said that he has halted efforts to ease sanctions on Iran, following the statements by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claiming "victory" during the so-called 12-day war. The US president then took credit for preventing Khamenei's assassination.
- Iran appears to have blocked the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), from visiting the country and carrying out inspections after its chief refused to condemn US air strikes on Iran's nuclear sites.
- The US has justified its strikes on Iran as collective self-defence under Article 51 of the founding United Nations Charter, and told the international body that it needed to "stop the threat that this rogue regime obtains and uses a nuclear weapon."
- Iran will hold what it described as "historic" funeral proceedings in Tehran on Saturday for 60 people killed in Israel's 12-day war with the country, including top military commanders and nuclear scientists.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that if US President Donald Trump wants Iran to return to the negotiating table, he needs to change his behaviour toward Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
"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, and stop hurting his millions of heartfelt followers," Araghchi said on X.
He appeared to write the remainder of the post in an online style now made famous by the president's social media accounts.
"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. If Illusions lead to worse mistakes, Iran will not hesitate to unveil its Real Capabilities, which will certainly END any Delusion about the Power of Iran," Araghchi said.
The objective of US strikes on Iran last weekend "was to destroy Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and stop the threat that this rogue regime obtains and uses a nuclear weapon", the United States told the United Nations Security Council in a letter on Friday, seen by Reuters.
"The United States remains committed to pursuing a deal with the Iranian government," wrote acting US ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea.
Washington justified the strikes as collective self-defence under Article 51 of the founding UN Charter, which requires the 15-member Security Council to be immediately informed of any action that states take in self-defence against armed attack.
- Reporting by Reuters
Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer will be at the White House on Monday for discussions on Iran and Gaza, Axios has reported.
He will also lay the groundwork for another visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington later this summer, according to Axios.
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that he has halted efforts to ease sanctions on Iran, following the statements by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claiming "victory" during the so-called 12-day war, and also saying that Trump's order for Iran to surrender was a "statement [that] is too big to come out of the US president's mouth".
Trump, in a post on his social media platform TruthSocial, also took credit for not allowing the Pentagon or Israel to assassinate Khamenei, he said.
Iran appears to have blocked the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), from visiting the country and carrying out inspections.
On Friday, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country's parliament has "voted for a halt to collaboration with the IAEA until the safety and security of our nuclear activities can be guaranteed," and that this is "a direct result of @rafaelmgrossi's regrettable role in obfuscating the fact that the Agency - a full decade ago - already closed all past issues."
"Through this malign action, he directly facilitated the adoption of a politically-motivated resolution against Iran by the IAEA BoG as well as the unlawful Israeli and US bombings of Iranian nuclear sites," Araghchi wrote on X.
Grossi is the head of the IAEA. On Wednesday, he said much of Iran's highly enriched uranium survived the US and Israeli attacks because it was moved out of areas likely to be targeted. He intended to travel to Iran to inspect the state of the facilities.
"In an astounding betrayal of his duties, @rafaelmgrossi has additionally failed to explicitly condemn such blatant violations of IAEA safeguards and its Statute," Araghchi said.
"The IAEA and its Director-General are fully responsible for this sordid state of affairs. @rafaelmgrossi's insistence on visiting the bombed sites under the pretext of safeguards is meaningless and possibly even malign in intent. Iran reserves the right to take any steps in defense of its interests, its people, and its sovereignty".
US President Donald Trump reiterated on Friday that Tehran wants to meet following US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites last weekend, but gave no further details.
Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House, also said that he would want the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) or another trusted entity to have full rights to conduct inspections in Iran.
On Thursday, Iran's foreign minister said there were no plans to resume talks with the US, which were upended by Israel's air strikes.
- with reporting from Reuters
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called on Iran to return to negotiations to prevent increased escalation in a joint press conference with Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker.
“Cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should be continued, not terminated,” he said on Friday.
Speaking a day after a Brussels summit that convened EU leaders to discuss pressing issues, Stocker also reiterated a call for Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Iran will hold what it described as "historic" funeral proceedings in Tehran on Saturday for 60 people killed in Israel's 12-day war with the country, including top military commanders and nuclear scientists.
The commemorations will begin at 8am local time (4.30am GMT) at Enghelab (Revolution) Square in central Tehran, followed by a funeral procession to Azadi (Freedom) Square, about 11km away.
"Tomorrow will be a historic day for Islamic Iran and the revolution," said Mohsen Mahmoudi, head of Tehran's Islamic Development Coordination Council, in a televised interview on Friday.
Among the dead are General Mohammad Bagheri, a major-general in Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and the second-in-command of the armed forces after supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and nuclear scientist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi.
Four women and four children are among those to be honoured at the funeral ceremony.
Israeli strikes killed at least 30 top commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, according to local media, including its commander-in-chief, Hossein Salami, and the head of its aerospace forces, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who oversaw the country's ballistic missile programme.
The Iranian health ministry says at least 627 civilians were killed and nearly 4,900 wounded in the Israeli attacks, while Iran's strikes on Israel also killed 28 people, according to Israeli authorities.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei on Thursday slammed German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over his support for Israel, saying that Merz had placed himself on the "wrong side of history."
“Merz persists in entrenching himself even deeper in the wrong side of history by fixing his position as a vehement backer & apologist of a genocidal aggressor,” Baghaei said on X.
Merz said on Monday that Germany’s “reason of state” was to defend Israel’s existence.
German Chancellor @_FriedrichMerz persists in entrenching himself even deeper in the wrong side of history by fixing his position as a vehement backer & apologist of a genocidal aggressor.
— Esmaeil Baqaei (@IRIMFA_SPOX) June 26, 2025
It is extremely low for any stateman to disregard, let alone attempt to justify, a…
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a call on Thursday in which they discussed promoting "a durable peace between Israel and Iran," the State Department said in a statement.
"The two leaders acknowledged the importance of working together to promote a durable peace between Israel and Iran," the US State Department said in a statement.
US President Donald Trump said last week that Pakistan knew Iran better than most other countries.
Israel is the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons and said its war against Iran aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
Pakistan condemned Israeli and US strikes on Iran even as it said earlier this month it was nominating Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in bringing a four-day India-Pakistan conflict to an end last month.
