Transcript [00:00] Hey everybody, so let's talk about the [00:02] funeral of supreme leader Ali Khamenei [00:06] which is going on now and we're all [00:07] seeing pictures of it and [00:10] I got to tell you I'm [00:12] I'm finding the coverage of it [00:15] and what's happening there extremely [00:17] extremely disturbing. [00:20] And I'll explain why by the end of this [00:21] video it'll be clear, [00:23] but I I had a conversation earlier with [00:25] Dr. David Wurmser and if you follow the [00:28] videos that we put up at Israel 365 News [00:32] YouTube channel which you should [00:33] definitely check out. I think the link [00:35] to that channel is in the description of [00:37] all my videos and once a week for the [00:39] last few months since this war since the [00:41] Iran war started at the end of February [00:43] we've been putting up conversations [00:44] between me and Dr. Wurmser. Dr. Wurmser [00:46] is one of the world's leading experts in [00:48] the Middle East served in multiple White [00:50] Houses and in the National Security [00:52] Council [00:54] and [00:55] and is a senior researcher at senior [00:58] research fellow at the Center for [00:59] Security Policy in Washington DC and I [01:01] have these conversations with him about [01:02] the Middle East every week. You don't [01:04] want to miss those. So if you've been [01:05] missing them go over to Israel 365 News [01:07] shameless plug. [01:09] But we were talking about the funeral [01:10] and he said something that was kind of [01:13] stating the obvious but we really need [01:14] to [01:16] we really need to say it. [01:19] If you're at this funeral [01:22] and you're [01:25] a leader of one of these other nations [01:27] that's there. [01:28] Um [01:29] Pakistan [01:32] Saudi Arabia [01:35] what are you saying? [01:36] You're giving honor to someone who is a [01:39] mass murderer [01:41] who [01:43] you're you were who [01:45] in the what what are you saying? Could [01:47] you imagine someone honoring Adolf [01:50] Hitler in 1945 having a funeral for him [01:53] and people heads of state [01:55] going and honoring him, who would go? [02:00] What would it mean? [02:02] What does it mean about your view of the [02:03] war? How could you as Pakistan [02:06] or Saudi Arabia or Qatar [02:10] or Turkey? [02:11] How could you express your condolences [02:13] here? [02:14] Ali Khamenei was killed by President [02:17] Trump. Pakistan, the Pakistani leader [02:18] called him a shaheed, called him [02:21] he called Ali Khamenei a martyr. What [02:23] does that mean about the person who [02:24] killed him? What does that mean about [02:25] the just nature of this war? [02:29] I don't know how [02:31] the Americans are letting that go by. [02:33] Anyway, we talk about that in the in [02:34] that conversation. We talk about a lot [02:36] more, but let me get into this [02:37] this funeral here. I got a number of [02:39] things to say about it. So, let's start [02:40] with uh [02:42] Let's start with this. This is a post [02:44] from Mosaddegh Commentary, a very [02:46] popular [02:48] X account. [02:50] This is a creepy funeral of Ayatollah [02:52] Ali Khamenei despite no apparent [02:54] presence of Mojtaba Khamenei. That's [02:55] another thing we got to talk about. [02:56] Mojtaba [02:58] uh is he dead? No one has seen him since [03:01] the first day of the war. [03:03] And we talk I talked about this with [03:04] with Dr. Wurmser as well about what that [03:06] what that means, what that symbolizes. [03:08] And they claim that he's still alive and [03:11] that he's still running the show, but no [03:13] one has seen him. [03:14] There hasn't even been a recorded [03:15] message of him, only written messages, [03:18] apparently written by him, written [03:20] messages. [03:22] So, apparently, if they admit that he's [03:24] incapacitated or dead, [03:26] then there's no supreme leader, then the [03:28] whole regime falls apart. [03:30] So, they need to have a supreme leader, [03:32] but they also can't go through a [03:33] selection process of a new supreme [03:35] leader [03:36] because there's all sorts of rival [03:37] factions. [03:39] So, they have to keep it that Khamenei's [03:41] son, Mojtaba, is the supreme leader. [03:43] Maybe he's alive, maybe he's dead, but [03:44] he wasn't at the funeral. [03:46] There are enough brutal dictators and [03:48] their loyalists on in one location to [03:50] alert the world to where each one of [03:51] these countries and their [03:52] representatives stand on human rights [03:54] abuses. This guy murdered tens of [03:56] thousands of his own people, [03:58] not to mention many thousands around the [04:01] world. [04:02] That doesn't and and we're not just [04:03] talking about wars with Israel or you [04:06] know, killing and blowing up American [04:08] locations in the Middle East ever since [04:09] the regime was founded. We're also [04:11] talking about the drug trafficking and [04:13] human trafficking that they do [04:14] worldwide. [04:17] The amount of death and destruction that [04:18] this man was responsible for and the [04:20] fact that people are honoring him. [04:22] It's really very disturbing. [04:24] Um so here is here here's the chance of [04:27] death to America at the funeral. [04:29] >> MARG BAR AMERICA. [04:31] >> [cheering] [04:35] >> MARG CHANTED DEATH. MARG bar America. [04:40] Marg bar America is death to America and [04:43] they also of course didn't leave out [04:44] Israel. [04:49] Marg bar Israel, death to Israel. [04:52] [screaming] [04:54] You know, and people sometimes think [04:55] that this is just rhetoric. Yeah, yeah, [04:57] yeah, death to America, death to Israel. [04:58] They don't really, you know, [05:00] you know, they don't really mean it. Of [05:01] course they mean it. Look at their [05:02] behavior over all the years. This is the [05:04] man that they're mourning. [05:06] The person who built this society, [05:09] who ran the society for like 40 years, [05:12] was was, you know, that was wholly [05:15] devoted to sowing death and destruction [05:18] all over the world. [05:20] And and [05:21] you know, and they're at this funeral. [05:22] Anyway, [05:24] so Trump was surprised at the crowds, [05:25] the massive crowds at the funeral. I [05:27] thought people hated him. Trump shocked [05:29] over Iranians mourning Khamenei. US [05:31] president adds in phone interview with [05:33] Axios that he could eliminate everyone [05:35] attending the funeral, but there'll be [05:36] no one left to negotiate if he goes [05:38] ahead with this threat. [05:41] Uh I think that'll be a good thing [05:42] actually. [05:43] Trump tells Axios that Iran and the US [05:45] decided to take a break from talks until [05:48] after Khomeini's funeral. Well, there's [05:49] incentive for them to make it last as [05:51] long as possible. Are they going to [05:52] subtract those days from the 60 days? [05:54] Look, Trump is looking to extend this [05:56] thing. [05:58] We're in a tough spot here. Neither side [06:00] will shoot the other during the funeral [06:02] proceedings, he said. Very, very nice. [06:04] That's so nice. Now, Trump was shocked. [06:06] And when it says that Trump was shocked [06:07] over Iranians mourning Khomeini. So, I [06:08] have two comments here. First of all, [06:11] um [06:13] there're 90 million people in Iran. [06:16] Probably a couple million of them [06:20] are loyal to the regime. [06:24] And they're coming out. [06:26] Okay? But, it's not just them. [06:28] See, what I What it made me think about [06:29] when I When it said that that Trump was [06:30] shocked over the Iranians mourning [06:32] Khomeini, we've seen this a number of [06:34] times from the beginning of this whole [06:35] saga with Iran, where American officials [06:37] have been surprised or shocked or [06:40] confused about Iranian behavior. We saw [06:42] J.D. Vance say it last week that he was [06:44] a little bit confused about the [06:45] Iranians. Why do they deny that we're [06:47] making progress when we are making [06:48] progress in the negotiating room? And we [06:50] had Steve Witcoff right before we [06:52] uh the the attacks began at the end of [06:54] February saying that Trump was a little [06:55] bit confused about why aren't the [06:56] Iranians capitulating? [06:58] It's like they just didn't do the [07:00] homework. [07:01] And there's an article that you have to [07:03] read. I've quoted it before. Phenomenal [07:06] article that was written [07:07] a long time ago. It was written It was [07:09] first I mean, it's listed here as June [07:12] 2026 because it got reposted to this [07:14] website at the time. [07:16] But, it's an old article that was [07:18] written about 15 years ago by Harold [07:20] Rhode. Dr. Harold Rhode was a He He was [07:25] a senior advisor to the Secretary of [07:29] Defense on the Middle East and [07:31] specifically on Iran for 28 years. Let [07:34] me read his exact bio line. [07:37] is [07:38] He served Yeah, for 28 years as an [07:40] advisor on in the Islamic world [07:43] to the in the office of the US Secretary [07:45] of Defense. Okay, now Harold Rhode is [07:48] fluent in Persian. He lived in Iran [07:51] uh [07:52] for years. [07:54] He knows the culture very well. He's [07:56] also He also He also speaks Arabic. He [07:59] knows he is one of the the experts in [08:01] the Middle East. I [08:04] uh had the honor of meeting him and [08:05] getting to know him a little bit. Uh [08:07] really a a tremendous expert. He [08:09] actually lived in Iran during the time [08:11] of the Iranian Revolution. [08:14] And he wrote this article, The Sources [08:16] of Iranian Negotiating Behavior. Okay, [08:19] just just look that up. Harold Rhode, R [08:21] H O D E, The Sources of Iranian [08:23] Negotiating Behavior. Just put that in [08:25] and you'll find it posted. There's a [08:26] number of sites that have posted this [08:27] text. [08:29] And one of the things he he talks about [08:31] about Iranian culture, [08:33] I want to jump down. It's point six in [08:35] the article. And I want to read it to [08:37] you. [08:40] When the Shah's regime began to falter, [08:42] began to totter, sorry. [08:45] Many people who had been loyal to the [08:46] Shah for years went over to the side of [08:48] the Islamic Revolution. [08:50] They did this overnight. [08:52] Hoping to protect themselves, their [08:53] families, their investments, et cetera. [08:56] It's extremely difficult to know [08:57] precisely where an Iranian's loyalty [08:59] lies. [09:00] What matters most to Iranians is [09:02] survival. Iranians will often make [09:04] bargains as a means to protect [09:05] themselves, not as a means of aligning [09:08] with like-minded individuals. Iranians [09:10] are typically not willing to sacrifice [09:12] much, let alone their lives, for an idea [09:14] or for a leader. [09:16] And when they do, it's almost always as [09:17] part of large groups. [09:19] Opinions and deeply held beliefs are [09:21] secondary. Most Iranians are prepared to [09:23] diametrically change their opinions the [09:25] moment they perceive it to be in their [09:27] interest to do so. [09:29] Before the revolution, an American noted [09:33] that a certain family in Tehran, and [09:35] he's talking about himself, [09:36] that a certain family in Tehran hung [09:38] pictures on the living room wall of [09:40] themselves with the Shah and the Shah's [09:43] wife. [09:44] This family had many American friends. [09:46] When the mullahs took over in 1979, this [09:49] family remained in Iran. [09:51] This seems strange since to the outside [09:52] observer their wall pictures and [09:54] friendships with Americans were recipes [09:55] for trouble with the new regime. [09:58] About 5 years later another American [10:00] visited this family in Tehran and dined [10:02] at their home. [10:03] The American visitor was told by their [10:04] mutual American friend about the [10:06] pictures that had been on the wall. [10:09] The American visitor noticed that there [10:10] were photos on the wall of this family [10:12] with senior mullahs [10:14] taken about 10 to 15 years previously. [10:17] After dinner while drinking coffee in [10:18] the salon, the American visitor casually [10:21] mentioned that their mutual American [10:23] acquaintance had described a very [10:24] different set of pictures on the wall. [10:26] The family members laughed and said, [10:28] "Tell our mutual American friend that [10:30] the pictures now hanging on our walls [10:32] were in a very safe hiding place during [10:33] the previous regime. And tell him also [10:36] that the pictures he remembered from [10:37] before are in that very same hiding [10:39] place." [10:40] Iranians in short believe that they must [10:43] be ready for anything and these pictures [10:45] were proof that whatever happened, this [10:47] family could demonstrate that they [10:49] supported whoever was in power. [10:51] Iranians have developed a fine sense of [10:53] being able to know the exact moment to [10:54] display whatever pictures or other [10:56] evidence they need to prove fidelity. [11:01] Um and then he has this next one. Keep [11:04] your options open have friends in every [11:05] camp. Rulers can change their minds in [11:07] an instant. Coups can happen without [11:09] notice. For this reason, it is good to [11:11] have connections and especially [11:12] relatives among all groups vying for [11:14] power. [11:15] It is not uncommon to observe several [11:17] sons of a single family aligned with [11:19] various groups. One son may be in a [11:20] religious seminary, others in various [11:22] opposition groups, still others in the [11:24] bazaar and the business world. On the [11:26] surface it might appear that these sons [11:28] hold views that are diametrically [11:29] opposed to each other, but Iranians see [11:32] this as hedging their bets regardless of [11:34] who comes to power, their family and [11:36] interests are protected. Okay, so [11:39] and [11:40] you get the idea here. And what Harold [11:42] describes and you have to read the whole [11:44] article. It's amazing. It's amazing that [11:45] it was written like 15 years ago and it [11:47] like describes Iranian behavior, so much [11:50] of the Iranian negotiating tactics that [11:51] we've been seeing that I talk about on [11:53] this channel. He lays them out here. And [11:55] again, this is like [11:56] like more than a decade ago. I think he [11:58] wrote it in 2010. [12:00] It's an old piece. [12:03] My point in reading these sections is [12:05] not to is not to disparage Iranian [12:07] people. [12:10] They live in a situ- in a situation, a [12:12] political situation where you have to [12:14] survive. [12:15] And you have to look out for yourself. [12:18] And they also earlier in the piece he [12:20] talks about how they respect power. [12:24] And they if they see that the leaders [12:27] are weak, then they'll turn on them. But [12:29] if they see that they're strong and it [12:31] looks like they're going to prevail, [12:33] then [snorts] they line up they line up [12:35] with whoever's in power if they think [12:37] they're going to prevail [12:38] because they fear the consequences of [12:40] turning against them, of being seen not [12:42] to be loyal and what that could mean. [12:45] And I thought about all this when I when [12:47] I [12:48] read this this piece that said that [12:50] Trump said that he thought people hated [12:52] him. He's shocked over the Iranians [12:53] mourning of Khamenei because he's [12:55] thinking like a Westerner. [12:57] There could be millions of people in the [12:59] street [13:00] at this funeral [13:02] who inside [13:04] their own personal opinion can't stand [13:05] Khamenei. [13:06] But they see that the regime is not [13:08] being taken down. [13:10] They've made a They might have thought [13:11] it was going to be taken down [13:13] way back during the protests in January [13:15] when Trump said help was on the way. [13:18] But now they look at it and they say, [13:19] "You know what? It looks like the [13:20] regime's going to survive. Trump's [13:21] negotiating with them. It looks like [13:22] they're going to be around for a while. [13:24] And if they're going to be around for a [13:25] while, I better show up at the funeral [13:28] and chant death to America and be part [13:30] of the and and be part of it and show my [13:33] loyalty, otherwise I'm going to be [13:35] pegged as someone who's anti-regime and [13:36] then I'm going to end up suffering down [13:38] the road cuz people are going to say, [13:39] "Hey, wait, that guy that neighbor of [13:40] mine wasn't at the funeral. That [13:42] neighbor of mine wasn't chanting death [13:43] to America. That neighbor of mine was." [13:46] And therefore they're in the good books. [13:49] Okay, so you have to be very careful [13:51] when you jump to conclusions when you [13:53] see these crowd scenes coming out of [13:54] Tehran understanding [13:57] uh what, you know, you know, the truth [13:59] about this culture. [14:01] I highly advise you go read this [14:02] article. Again, it's called The Sources [14:04] of Iranian Negotiating Behavior. It is [14:07] incredible incredible article. [14:09] Now, last thing I want to show you is a [14:11] despicable I mean, this is just [14:14] what I said at the beginning of the [14:15] video about just imagine people honoring [14:17] Hitler. And you might be thinking to [14:18] yourself, well, who cares? It's all [14:19] these evil dictators, but it's not only [14:21] it's also countries that America calls [14:23] its allies. [14:25] I mean, could you imagine again a [14:26] funeral for Hitler where where American [14:29] media would say anything positive about [14:31] it or spin it in a positive way? Check [14:33] out this 2-minute clip of an ABC News [14:36] Australia [14:38] um [14:39] coverage of the funeral. [14:42] >> As you can hear behind me, the grief and [14:45] outrage felt by mourners inside Tehran's [14:47] Grand Masala is palpable where the [14:50] remains of supreme leader Ali Khamenei [14:53] are lying in state along with coffins of [14:56] his family members who were also killed [14:59] in the February airstrike. [15:02] We've seen many mourners waving red [15:05] banners which symbolize calls for [15:07] revenge as well as posters with a fist. [15:10] There are reports that Khamenei's body [15:12] was found with his fist clenched and the [15:15] regime here is using it as a symbol of [15:18] defiance and strength to galvanize their [15:21] supporters. We cannot independently [15:23] verify if the story is true, but it [15:26] tells us something significant. The [15:29] six-day funeral is not just an [15:31] opportunity for people to pay their [15:33] respect to the former supreme leader. [15:35] It's a carefully choreographed political [15:38] event designed to tell the world that [15:40] the regime is very much alive and very [15:43] much in control of Iran, even if their [15:45] leader is dead. And to project this [15:48] image authorities have allowed [15:50] journalists from all over the world to [15:52] come here, which is a very different [15:54] situation from just a month ago. We're [15:57] not allowed to leave Tehran or report on [16:00] any other issues, but we have been given [16:02] access to the ceremony here to get that [16:05] message out. [16:06] But for the millions of people who are [16:09] expected to attend this funeral, there [16:10] are many more who did not support the [16:12] supreme leader and the regime he led for [16:15] almost 40 years. The ceremony is [16:17] expected to end in Mashhad on Thursday, [16:21] where his remains are to be buried. [16:24] >> This is unbelievable. Look at what she [16:26] says there. She says that they they [16:29] allowed us in [16:31] only to cover the funeral [16:33] because they wanted to get this message [16:35] out. And what's she doing? She's getting [16:37] the message out. [16:39] She throws in the line at the end about [16:42] how there was a lot more people who, you [16:43] know, who, you know, were not happy with [16:45] him. [16:46] But this was a puff piece about a [16:48] funeral. Could you imagine a piece like [16:49] this about Adolf Hitler's funeral? [16:53] By a Western outlet? [16:55] I mean, this just shows you the lack of [16:58] conviction in the Western world. The [17:00] fact that we even have things like this. [17:02] And look on social media, you'll see [17:03] more of it. People thought, "Oh, he was [17:05] a spiritual leader." He wasn't a [17:06] spiritual leader. He was a mass [17:08] murderer. [17:10] Spiritual? [17:11] A religion that that that believes what [17:13] they believe, that they want to death to [17:15] America, death to Israel, genocide, [17:17] apocalypse. [17:21] Mass murderer. [17:24] You call him a spiritual leader. [17:26] Talk about their grief. [17:28] Share this stupid story about him [17:31] about him being found with his fist [17:33] clenched. [17:37] Anyway. [17:39] Whatever, that's my report on the [17:41] funeral. [17:42] I think that's enough enough talking [17:43] about it. [17:45] Hope you found it interesting. Please [17:46] like, subscribe, share, all that. [17:48] Um [17:49] but uh [17:50] I just think it's [17:53] it just shows a lack of conviction to [17:55] destroy evil. You say, "Oh, you know, [17:57] we'll take a pause from the war. [17:59] Let them mourn their evil [18:03] evil mass murdering [18:06] uh [18:07] genocidal maniac. [18:09] We'll let them mourn. We'll be nice to [18:11] them." [18:12] It's pathetic. [18:14] God bless.
