Iranian official says pressure cannot silence movement rooted in faith
Mohammad Eslami made the remarks during a funeral ceremony in Tehran for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and others identified by IRNA as martyrs.
Iranian Vice President and Atomic Energy Organization chief Mohammad Eslami said during a Tehran funeral ceremony that pressure or war could not silence a movement rooted in the faith of Iran’s people. His comments and details about the ceremonies were reported by Iran’s state news agency IRNA.
TEHRAN — Mohammad Eslami, Iran’s vice president and head of the Atomic Energy Organization, said on Monday that no pressure or war could silence what he described as a movement rooted in the faith and support of the Iranian people.
Speaking on the sidelines of a funeral ceremony in Tehran, Eslami said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had achieved his long-held wish of martyrdom, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA. Eslami urged the Iranian people to follow Khamenei’s guidance and said Iran and the Islamic Revolution would continue to gain strength.
He said the Islamic community would continue the path led by Khamenei and that Iran would move forward stronger than before. Eslami also described the public turnout at the ceremony as a renewed pledge to the ideals of the Islamic Revolution and said demonstrators had called for revenge for the death of the leader.
IRNA reported that the ceremony began in Tehran with mourners attending the procession for Khamenei and several other people identified in the report as members of his family or associates. The report said the funeral vehicle was scheduled to travel from the Imam Hassan al-Mojtaba religious center toward Azadi Square.
According to IRNA, further ceremonies were scheduled in Qom on Tuesday, July 7, and in Mashhad on Thursday, July 9, where the remains were to be buried at the Imam Reza shrine. A separate farewell and funeral ceremony was also scheduled for Wednesday, July 8, in Najaf and Karbala, Iraq.