Iran's funeral politics: Khamenei's burial becomes message to region and rivals

• Iran used the funeral ceremonies for slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as a carefully orchestrated display of regional influence, religious symbolism and diplomatic hierarchy, deploying Quran recitations to send messages to allies, rivals and friends alike.
• The funeral, which moved through Tehran, Qom, Najaf and Karbala before the final burial in Mashhad, was as much a political theatre as it was a religious rite.
• Iran used it to tell its own public that the state could still rally the country in victory and grief; to reassure allies that Tehran had not buckled; to show major powers that it had