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Iran postpones state funeral for Khamenei — Report

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Iran announced that a state funeral for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which had been planned for Wednesday evening in Tehran, was postponed “in anticipation of unprecedented turnout,” state television reported.

“The farewell ceremony for the martyred Imam has been postponed. The new date will be announced later,” Iranian television reported on Wednesday after Khamenei was killed at 86 in US-Israeli strikes over the weekend.

On Wednesday morning, authorities had said a tribute would take place that same evening in Tehran before Khamenei’s body was buried in the holy city of Mashhad, where he was from.

Strikes have pummelled Tehran since Saturday, with missiles targeting military and government infrastructure.

Authorities did not link the postponement to the security situation.

It was partly down to “the expected participation of millions of people and the need to provide the proper infrastructure” for such a crowd, Mohsen Mahmoudi, head of Tehran’s Islamic Development Coordination Council, the body organising the event, told state TV.

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Trump says ‘not a big fan’ of Pope Leo after his anti-war message

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April 13, 2026

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US President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday that he is “not a big fan” of Pope Leo XIV, after the global leader of Catholics made a plea for peace.

“I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo. He’s a very liberal person, and he’s a man that doesn’t believe in stopping crime,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

He accused the pontiff of “toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon.”

On Saturday, the 70-year-old American pope publicly implored leaders to end the violence, telling worshippers at St. Peter’s Basilica: “Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war!”

US President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday that he is “not a big fan” of Pope Leo XIV, after the global leader of Catholics made a plea for peace.

“I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo. He’s a very liberal person, and he’s a man that doesn’t believe in stopping crime,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

He accused the pontiff of “toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon.”

On Saturday, the 70-year-old American pope publicly implored leaders to end the violence, telling worshippers at St. Peter’s Basilica: “Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war!”

US President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday that he is “not a big fan” of Pope Leo XIV, after the global leader of Catholics made a plea for peace.

“I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo. He’s a very liberal person, and he’s a man that doesn’t believe in stopping crime,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

He accused the pontiff of “toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon.”

On Saturday, the 70-year-old American pope publicly implored leaders to end the violence, telling worshippers at St. Peter’s Basilica: “Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war!”

 

Trump reiterated his comments to reporters with a post on Truth Social saying: “I don’t want a Pope who think it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”

Washington and the Vatican have recently denied reports of a rift.

On Friday, a Vatican official denied reports that a top Pentagon official gave the church’s envoy to the United States a “bitter lecture” over Pope Leo’s criticisms of the Trump administration.

 

The story in the Free Press — which the Pentagon had already dismissed as “distorted” — reported that Cardinal Christophe Pierre was summoned in January to the Pentagon, where he was given a dressing-down by US Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Elbridge Colby.

The military official reportedly told the cardinal that the United States “has the military power to do whatever it wants — and that the Church had better take its side.”

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement, “The account presented by certain media outlets regarding this meeting does not correspond to the truth in any way.”

While both parties insist the meeting was cordial, the Holy See and the White House have openly been at odds over the Trump administration’s hardline mass deportation campaign — which the pope called “inhuman” — and the use of military force in the Middle East and Venezuela.

When Trump made genocidal threats against Iran on Tuesday, saying “A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again” — the pontiff slammed the “truly unacceptable” statement and urged parties to “come back to the table” for negotiations.

Earlier this month, Pope Leo hailed the news of a ceasefire between the United States and Iran as a “sign of real hope.”

But peace talks between the United States and Iran, held in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, ended abruptly Saturday with US Vice President JD Vance telling reporters after a marathon session of talks that Washington has delivered its “final and best offer.”

 

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China rejects claims of supplying weapons to Iran

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April 13, 2026

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China on Monday called reports it had supplied or intended to supply weapons to Iran “baseless smears”, after several outlets quoted US intelligence sources to that effect.

On Sunday, US President Donald Trump threatened Beijing with a “staggering” new tariff of 50 percent if it were to provide military assistance to Tehran.

His comments came the same day US outlet CNN reported that US intelligence indicated China was preparing to deliver new air defence systems to Iran within the next few weeks, citing three people familiar with the assessments.

Over the weekend, The New York Times quoted US officials as saying US intelligence suggested Beijing might have already sent a shipment of shoulder-fired missiles.

China denied the reports, saying Monday it had “always adopted a cautious and responsible attitude towards the export of military items, implementing strict controls in accordance with its own export control laws and regulations and its international obligations”.

“We oppose baseless smears or malicious association,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular news briefing.

China is a key economic partner of Iran — it buys most of the Middle Eastern country’s oil.

The countries have no formal military pact, though, and many analysts say Beijing largely sees the relationship between the two as transactional.

China also has strong economic ties to the Gulf countries and has criticised Iran’s attacks on them over the course of the war.

 

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Former Iranian foreign minister dies from attack wounds

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April 10, 2026

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A former Iranian foreign minister, Kamal Kharazi, died Thursday from wounds suffered in US-Israel strikes on April 1, Iranian media reported.

Kharazi, 81, had been serving as the head of the Strategic Council for International Relations, which is part of the foreign ministry.

The veteran diplomat, “who was injured in a terrorist attack carried out by the American-Zionist enemy a few days ago, died a martyr tonight”, the Mehr and Isna agencies reported on Telegram.

His wife was killed in the strike on their home in Tehran, media reported.

Kharazi was Iran’s envoy at the United Nations in New York and then became foreign minister from 1997 to 2005, under reformist president Mohammad Khatami.

Spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a number of top military and political figures have been killed in strikes since the Middle East war started with US-Israeli attacks on February 28.

AFP

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