Iran turned the funeral procession of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei through Tehran on Monday, July 6, into a mass call for revenge against the United States and Israel, with the day’s defining image a billboard showing President Donald Trump with a bullet pointed at his head. Mourners pelted it with stones as they passed beneath, and leaders of Hezbollah and other allied militant groups marched among the crowds. As the largest gathering of the week filled the streets, Iran’s military spokesman said on state media that the armed forces were on full alert, had used the ceasefire to sharpen their capabilities and had updated their “target bank,” warning that any new attack would draw a harsher response than before.

The revenge message ran straight from the top of Iran’s military and government. Army commander-in-chief Major Gen. Amir Hatami told broadcaster IRIB that Khamenei’s death had hardened Iran’s resolve to avenge him. The Supreme National Security Council said in a weekend statement that the country’s message was resistance against its enemies and vengeance for its slain leader. Crowds chanted that their one word was revenge.

Delegations from Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese group, marched in the procession alongside Hamas, the Houthis and Kataib Hezbollah — the network Tehran calls its “Axis of Resistance.” Mourners waved Hezbollah’s yellow flags and the red flags that signal revenge in Shiite tradition. On Sunday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf met senior Hezbollah officials, including Mohammed Fenish, and called the group’s role in the war a “historic turning point,” according to state news agency IRNA.

Much of the anger was aimed squarely at Washington. Beyond the stoned billboard, women in black chadors held red placards reading “KILL TRUMP” in English, an effigy of Trump was strung up along the route, and a eulogist called for the president’s death from the stage. Placards also targeted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Vice President JD Vance and War Secretary Pete Hegseth. Iran has repeatedly denied plotting to kill Trump. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz answered that Khamenei had been killed because he led a plan to destroy Israel, and that any Iranian leader who tried again would meet the same end.

Khamenei, who ruled Iran for nearly 37 years, was killed on February 28 at age 86 in a U.S.-Israeli airstrike at the start of the war. Four members of his family died in the same strike. Their coffins were driven Monday on a truck decorated to resemble the grating around a Shiite shrine, moving toward Azadi Tower as fire hoses misted water over the crowds in the heat.

For business, the story runs through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that carries much of the world’s oil. Iran paused its talks with the United States for the funeral week, and Trump said he was giving Tehran time off from the negotiations. That pause matters to energy markets, because the war shut most shipping through the strait earlier this year and drove crude sharply higher before a fragile ceasefire reopened the route.

Prices have since fallen back toward pre-war levels. By the end of last week Brent crude was near $72 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was around $68, both close to where they traded on February 27, the day before the war began. Oil was heading for a fourth straight weekly loss as tankers returned to the strait and the war premium drained out of prices.

Supply is loosening too. OPEC+ agreed Sunday to raise output by 188,000 barrels a day, its fifth straight increase since the war began. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have brought exports back close to pre-war levels, lifting combined flows through the strait above 10 million barrels a day. Citigroup expects Brent to keep sliding toward $60 a barrel by year-end as shipping normalizes and Chinese buying softens.

The calm is easily rattled. Tracking data showed at least eight tankers turning back at the strait on Saturday after trying to slip through by hugging the Omani coast, a sign captains remain wary. Maritime authorities describe traffic as steady but not yet growing, and the strait’s security is expected to come up at this week’s NATO summit.

Iran’s government is using the vast turnout, which officials say could reach 15 to 20 million and would rank as the country’s largest state funeral, to project strength while its new leader stays out of sight. Khamenei’s son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, who took over in March and is believed to have been wounded in the strike that killed his father, has not appeared in public. The procession continues this week from Qom into the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala before Khamenei is buried Thursday in Mashhad. Netanyahu is expected in Washington to meet Trump as early as next Monday, a session likely to shape whether the ceasefire — and oil’s calm — holds.

JBizNews Desk| Washington
© JBizNews.com All Rights Reserved. Reproduction or distribution without written permission is prohibited.