Khamenei’s Week-Long Funeral Procession Displays Violent Antisemitic and Anti-Israel Incitement

The funeral for Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — one of the biggest propagators of antisemitic, anti-Zionist and anti-American rhetoric — was marked by public displays of violent rhetoric targeting Jews, Israel and U.S. officials. The funeral also drew a range of American and international influencers who bolstered the Islamic Republic of Iran’s violent anti-Western and anti-Israel messaging.

Khamenei, who was Supreme Leader for nearly 37 years, was killed in a targeted joint U.S.-Israeli airstrike in Tehran on February 28 at the start of the 2026 Iran War. Images and video from the funeral, which spanned six days, two countries, and five cities, showed several posters and placards bearing threats against President Donald Trump, eliminationist messaging against Israel, and calls for violence against Jews worldwide. This violent messaging was evident at official venues and endorsed by the network of American and international influencers present in Tehran. Given the significant participation of leadership from the Iranian regime’s terrorist proxies in these events, these threats cannot be seen as purely rhetorical.

The rhetoric and threats broadly reflect longstanding patterns in Tehran's messaging: the use of antisemitic incitement, revolutionary martyrdom themes, and calls for revenge against Israel and the United States.  

Placards at the funeral included violent slogans, such as "O Free people of the world, act on your own initiative and with a deterrent response to safeguard the Leader's life. You must set the lives of Jews across the entire world ablaze."

Some of these calls for violence, including the famous "Marg bar Amrika” (Death to America), were amplified by U.S. citizens who arrived in Tehran to venerate the late regime leader. A broad range of pro-Iranian regime, anti-Zionist influencers attended the funeral, including two individuals associated with the American Communist Party (ACP), one of whom made a gesture of solidarity in front of a sign that read “Kill Trump.”

An Instagram post from Christopher Helali on July 7, 2026, featuring a sign that reads "Kill Trump."

Jackson Hinkle, co-founder of ACP, chanted “Down with the USA” and “Down with Zionists” from the main stage for funeral performances in Engheleb Square, Tehran. 

A July 8 post on X from Al Jazeera English featured a video of Jackson Hinkle in Tehran.

Max Blumenthal, a prominent anti-Zionist writer, was also in attendance and accompanied Hinkle to a meeting with a minister from the Houthis, a U.S.-designated terrorist group that controls part of Yemen. Calla Walsh, a former Democratic staffer who became virulently anti-American and has a history of pro-terror rhetoric, was part of a delegation of “journalists” who took part in a press junket organized by state-controlled media outlet Sobh Media Festival. Walsh chanted “Death to America” in Farsi during a livestream. Patrick Henningsen, a former contributor for the notoriously antisemitic online outlet Infowars, was a part of the same press junket. 

Threats Against U.S. Officials

Several placards and banners at the funeral directly threatened President Trump, including explicit death threats and revenge messaging. While anti-American rhetoric is a staple of Iranian regime gatherings, the targeted and personal nature of these threats against Trump and other U.S. officials and public figures is a notable escalation.

For example, one placard read, "O Avenger of Khamenei's blood, we will not rest until we have avenged your blood against Trump, Netanyahu and the lawless criminals..." Others read, "History will soon repeat itself. The killer of Imam Ali (Khamenei) will be brought to retribution by Imam Hasan”, "Trump, You Murderer. We will kill you”, "There will be blood” and "#KillTrump" and "Revenge."

A July 5, 2026, post on X from BBC reporter Parham Ghobadi.

The event included leaders from a range of Iranian regime-backed terrorist organizations that regularly attack Israel. Nearly the entire surviving leadership of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas paid their respects, followed by delegations from Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Other U.S.-designated terrorist groups with high-level representation included Lebanese Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis, and delegations from multiple U.S.-designated terrorist brigades of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) commanders.

These groups not only paid their respects, but they also took advantage of the opportunity to meet with one another. Akram al-Kaabi, a U.S.-designated terrorist and the Secretary General of the Nujba Front (an Iranian regime-allied branch of the PMF), was particularly visible, greeting other commanders – he used his visibility to encourage participation in the funeral and to tie participation to confrontation with Israel and the United States.

Eliminationist Anti-Israel and Anti-American Messaging

Other material displayed at or around the funeral included eliminationist anti-Israel messaging, echoing the Iranian regime’s genocidal threats over the decades. One piece of graffiti featured by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) website read, “To the last breath, for the destruction of Israel,” while a billboard featured the threat "The Zionist regime will not survive the next 15 years." Other placards featured prominently during one procession included targets over the faces of President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reading in part, “the killing of Trump rests upon our shoulders,” and “we live only to avenge your blood.” 

In an on-camera interview, Hamid-Reza Moghadamfar, adviser to the Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said, "Avenging the blood of the martyred leader is a universal duty [i.e. incumbent on all Khamenei’s followers everywhere] ... Even those who lack physical strength have a duty to play a role in this path by chanting ‘Death to America’." 

A July 3, 2026 statement on X from Sheikh Akram Al-Ka'bi.

Why It Matters

The funeral evidence shows how antisemitic, anti-Israel and anti-American incitement can be embedded in orchestrated political mourning and then amplified by regime media and news agencies, proxies and apologists. ADL has long documented the Iranian regime’s record of promoting antisemitism, Holocaust denial, conspiracy theories and incitement against Israel and Jews. The evidence presented here shows that the violent rhetoric ADL has already documented is not only commonplace but is now accompanied by open threats against U.S. individuals, including the President of the United States.

Given that the funeral also served as a venue to shore up the Iranian regime’s ability to spread its narrative internationally — and provided an opportunity for Tehran to host a significant number of designated terrorist groups, which has become more common since October 7, 2023 — it would be extremely dangerous to treat these calls for the killing of a U.S. president and the eliminationist messaging against Israel as merely symbolic.