Did the war against Iran save the Islamic Republic?

Tuesday, July 07, 2026

Repeated calls for revenge against U.S. President Donald Trump and Israel erupted from mourners Monday as hundreds of thousands marched through Tehran in a funeral procession for Iran's slain supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Flags were burned, and chants of "Death to America!" and "Death to Israel" echoed repeatedly as the mourners sweltered beneath a cascade of flower petals and sprayed rose water.

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... Yet the massive participation in the funeral sends a message that is about more than mourning. The Islamic Republic's leaders and commanders survived a 40-day onslaught aimed both at regime change and at decimating Iran's nuclear and missile programs. And they did so just weeks after their own unprecedented crackdown on street protests in January had left thousands dead. That violent repression of dissent, along with widespread corruption and economic mismanagement, had appeared to pose an existential internal threat.

Even as Iran stages a weeklong funeral for its slain leader, the Islamic Republic today is acting with a bold and newfound confidence born of a war that analysts say may have saved the regime from a post-protest erosion of legitimacy. ...

#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-07-07 12:05 AM | Reply

Another view ...

Khamenei funeral signals Iran's defiance and new regional order
www.reuters.com

...Summary
- - - Khamenei's funeral becomes post-war show of defiance

- - - Sea of mourners deliver message that Iran survived

- - - Iran turns survival in war into leverage over Hormuz

- - - Hormuz now drives Tehran's strategy, not nuclear file

- - - Iran uses time, geography, leverage to reshape diplomacy

The funeral of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was more than a national farewell. The sea of mourners in Tehran sent a message to the United States and Israel that their attempt to break the Islamic Republic had failed.

Rather than looking weakened by the war that began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on February 28, Iran presented itself as defiant, unified and determined to shape what comes next. ...

#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-07-07 12:08 AM | Reply