Mohammad Rasouli used loudspeakers at Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Tehran funeral to ask why Donald Trump was “still alive,” drawing cheers from a crowd of hundreds of thousands.
The call marked the first direct onstage appeal for Trump’s death at the funeral, where banners, posters and graffiti had already targeted Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump, speaking in Washington during U.S. 250th anniversary events, said of Iran: “We wiped it out, wiped out their military,” while U.S. authorities have tracked Iranian threats against him for years.
Khamenei, killed at 86 in a Feb. 28 airstrike at the start of the war, was buried as Iran’s negotiations with Washington over a permanent end to the conflict remain on hold.
Does the proposed peace deal represent a strategic victory for Iran after a war that exposed US vulnerabilities?
As a fragile ceasefire falters, can a 'deeply flawed' deal truly prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon?
With Iran controlling a key global oil route, is the world economy prepared for the next supply shock?
Iran’s Public Call for Trump’s Death at Khamenei Funeral Escalates US-Iran Crisis Amid War and Global Energy Shock
Overview
On July 5, 2026, during the massive funeral for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, a performer publicly called for the death of U.S. President Donald Trump. This unprecedented act, witnessed by hundreds of thousands, marked a sharp escalation in anti-American sentiment and added new tension to ongoing U.S.-Iran negotiations aimed at ending a war that has disrupted global energy supplies. The incident, rooted in the anger over Khamenei’s death at the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, complicated already fragile diplomatic efforts and highlighted the volatile atmosphere shaping regional and international relations.