Iran's delayed burial of Khamenei alerts regime worry, analyst says

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A chronic delay within the burial of Iran’s supreme chief, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, alerts a deepening disaster contained in the Islamic Republic, in accordance with a distinguished Iranian strategist.

Dr. Ramesh Sepehrrad’s remarks got here as peace talks between the US and Iran stalled and inner tensions raised questions concerning the regime’s stability.

Fortieth-day mourning ceremonies for Khamenei started in Iran on April 9, with authorities withholding details about his burial greater than 40 days after his killing. A 3-day state funeral scheduled for early March 2026 had already been postponed.

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Mojtaba Khamenei, the brand new supreme chief of Iran and second son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, attends a gathering in Tehran, Iran, on Oct. 13, 2024. (Hamed Jafarnejad/ISNA/WANA/Reuters)

"Forty-four days have handed, and the regime doesn't have the boldness to publicly bury Mojtaba’s lifeless father," Sepehrrad of the Group of Iranian American Communities (OIAC) instructed Fox Information Digital.

"That's an indicator of the worry inside this regime from prime to backside," Sepehrrad added, earlier than describing how, often, "a spiritual regime believes that their lifeless have to be buried in 24 hours."

Khamenei was killed Feb. 28 in a strike concentrating on a regime compound in central Tehran, with a separate strike affecting his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, who succeeded him.

Mojtaba is alleged to be nonetheless recovering from extreme facial and leg accidents, three individuals near his internal circle instructed Reuters on April 11.

Khamenei’s face was disfigured within the assault on the supreme chief’s compound in central Tehran, and he suffered a major damage to at least one or each legs, three sources instructed the outlet.

"The 56-year-old is nonetheless recovering from his wounds and stays mentally sharp, in accordance with the individuals, who requested anonymity to debate delicate issues."

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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i, the pinnacle of the judiciary and Alireza Arafi, deputy chairman of the Meeting of Consultants, attend the assembly of the interim management council of Iran in an unknown location, amid the U.S.-Israel battle with Iran, in Iran, March 1, 2026. (IRIB/WANA/Handout/Reuters)

He's taking half in conferences with senior officers through audio conferencing and is engaged in decision-making on main points, together with the warfare and negotiations with Washington, two of the sources say, in accordance with experiences.

The report got here as Iran navigated diplomatic efforts with the U.S. in Islamabad geared toward easing tensions amid a two-week ceasefire, which in the end failed to provide a breakthrough.

"Mojtaba enter within the broad purple strains of negotiations, even when he's not the general public face," Sepehrrad claimed. "On the finish of the day, for greater than 10 years, he served as his father’s right-hand man and as a conduit to the IRGC."

"Mojtaba could also be much less rhetorical, much less publicly ideological, and extra operational as a result of his main focus is survival of the regime."

Iran additionally confirmed Sunday it had no plans for additional peace talks after the marathon summit, the place Pakistan mediated.

"No plan has but been introduced for the time, place, or subsequent spherical of negotiations," Iranian state information company Nour reported Saturday, citing the nation’s Supreme Nationwide Safety Council, with no assertion from the brand new Supreme Chief.

IRAN'S SUPREME LEADER MOJTABA KHAMENEI 'MISFUNCTIONING,' NOT CONTROLLING REGIME: SOURCES

A mourner holds a portrait of Iran's slain supreme chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (top-L) on March 5, 2026, throughout a funeral procession for members of Iraq's pro-Iran paramilitary group Hezbollah Brigades (Kataeb Hezbollah) who have been killed in a strike in Baghdad the day past. The Tehran-backed Iraqi group Kataeb Hezbollah mentioned on March 5 that certainly one of its commanders was killed in a strike in southern Iraq the day past. (Ahmed Al-Rubaye/AFP)

"Mojtaba is much less the supreme chief within the conventional sense and extra the coordinator of a security-led system," Sepehrrad defined earlier than describing him as "extra like a security-backed coordinator."

"This regime doesn't talk with one unified voice. It communicates by perform," Sepehrrad mentioned.

"One channel negotiates, one other threatens, one other punishes, and one other tries to take care of ideological continuity. It's now a mafia," the strategist claimed.

"The important thing level isn't concord however division of labor. What holds them collectively is regime survival, not belief."

"What we're seeing now's deeper: a pacesetter who lacks natural authority and due to this fact governs by the establishment that controls drive," Sepehrrad mentioned.

On the Iranian aspect, negotiations, the analyst mentioned, additionally did contain "diplomats," however a wider circle of security-linked figures shaping Tehran’s posture, reflecting the rising dominance of hardline establishments.

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Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and International Minister Abbas Araghchi have been greeted by Pakistan International Minister Ishaq Dar and Military Chief Area Marshal Gen. Asim Munir upon their arrival at Nur Khan airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on April 11, 2026. (Pakistan Ministry of International Affairs/AP)

"This was a brittle coalition of safety males," Sepehrrad mentioned, earlier than describing how Mojtaba is "on the prime, however is closely reliant on the Guards, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, SNSC chief Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, IRGC commander Ahmad Vahidi, Judiciary chief Mohseni-Ejei, and regulation enforcement chief Ahmad-Reza Radan."

"A number of of a very powerful surviving figures usually are not primarily diplomats," Sepehrrad mentioned earlier than suggesting that that ought to "change how we must always learn all the things popping out of Tehran."

"That could be a completely different system from the one many Western analysts nonetheless suppose they're coping with," Sepehrrad defined. "Twin observe — tactical flexibility in talks and a harsher repression at dwelling."

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"Whereas the regime negotiates to purchase time, cut back strain on its forces, and stop broader exterior escalation, internally, it's prone to intensify arrests, executions, intimidation, and web controls now," the strategist warned.

"The regime fears inner unrest greater than diplomacy," Sepehrrad mentioned.

Emma Bussey is a breaking information author for Fox Information Digital. Earlier than becoming a member of Fox, she labored at The Telegraph with the U.S. in a single day group, throughout desks together with overseas, politics, information, sport and tradition.