Overview

• Khamenei attended a mourning ceremony at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Mosque on July 5, greeting worshippers who chanted “The blood in our veins for our leader!”
• The 86-year-old leader had not been seen publicly since June 11 as security forces reportedly protected him in an underground bunker during the height of the strikes
• Iran says more than 900 people were killed and thousands injured in the hostilities, during which it fired over 550 ballistic missiles into Israel
• A June 24 ceasefire halted combat but left Iran’s nuclear facilities badly damaged and prompted Tehran to suspend cooperation with UN inspectors
• Observers say Khamenei’s reappearance is aimed at bolstering regime cohesion and morale as factions within the Revolutionary Guard jockey for influence ahead of his eventual succession