TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Three of late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s sons made a rare public appearance at his funeral on Sunday but there was still no sign of his successor and other son, Mojtaba Khamenei.

Crowds of thousands filled the Grand Mosalla religious complex in Tehran for the second day in a row to attend the funeral ceremonies of Khamenei and four family members killed on 28 February in Israeli airstrikes based on US intelligence.

As well as laying to rest the man who ruled the Islamic republic for over three-and-a-half decades, the funerals are a chance for the Iranian authorities to burnish their resilience after five weeks at war with Israel and the United States.

xIran’s speaker of parliament and chief negotiator with the US, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, one of the most prominent faces of the post-Ali Khamenei era, hailed on X how the “proud and invincible nation of Islamic Iran unanimously” paid tribute to its “martyr.”

A funeral procession is planned for Monday in Tehran, followed by similar events in the clerical hub of Qom on Tuesday and in Iraq’s holy cities of Najaf and Karbala on Wednesday, culminating in Khamenei’s burial in his hometown of Mashhad in northeastern Iran on Thursday.

The ceremonies on Sunday were marked by the appearance of Ali Khamenei’s eldest son Mostafa and the two younger siblings Masoud and Meysam, all clerics.

‘Blessed end’

But their presence further highlighted the absence from the funeral ceremonies of Mojtaba Khamenei, who was named supreme leader shortly after his father’s killing but has yet to appear in public.

Officials have said he was wounded in the airstrikes but the severity of his injuries remains unclear. So far, Mojtaba Khamenei has only communicated through written statements amid speculation he is too badly wounded or too concerned over the risks of being targeted to emerge.

The remaining days of the funerals — in particular the burial on Thursday — will be closely watched to see if Mojtaba Khamenei appears in public.