On Sunday, July 5, three of the sons of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei performed funeral prayers for him and four other family members in Tehran, but his son and successor in power Mojtaba did not appear.
Footage broadcast by state media showed Massoud, Maysam and Mustafa Khamenei attending the mass funeral prayers, their first public appearance since the outbreak of the war on Iran.
On the other hand, the new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, failed to attend his father's funeral in Tehran for the second day in a row, which opened the door to speculation and interpretations about his health condition.
Mojtaba has not appeared in public since he was seriously injured in joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran on Feb. 28 , which also killed his father, wife and son.
Of the four brothers, Massoud and Mustafa devote themselves mainly to religious studies in the city of Qom, performing only minor political jobs in their father's office.
But Mojtaba and Meysam are more involved in the government, according to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and that beginning in 1988, both served in the armed forces for two years, after which Mojtaba began his religious studies, first in Tehran and then, since 1999, at the Qom seminary.
What do we know about Khamenei's three sons?
Born on February 5, 1965 in Mashhad, Mustafa Khamenei ( eldest son ) is not limited to religious studies in Qom, as reports reveal that he is one of the most prominent real estate investors in Tehran, and controls stakes in foreign car sales in the Iranian market.
Massoud Khamenei (third son)
Born in 1974, also known as "Sayyid Mohsen Khamenei," he runs the Office for the Preservation and Dissemination of the Supreme Leader's Relics, an agency responsible for organizing and documenting Ali Khamenei's speeches and writings.
Maytham Khamenei (youngest son)
Born in 1978, he is considered the least visible among his brothers, and he works as a teacher in the seminary, and he also participates in some activities of the leadership institutions, where he works in Tehran as part of the Office of the Preservation and Publication of the Works of the Supreme Leader.
At his father's funeral, Massoud Khamenei was seen weeping and wiping his tears with a scarf, as crowds of Iranians poured into Tehran's Grand Prayer Hall even during Saturday night's hours, many shedding tears while others were.
In central Tehran on Monday, the body will arrive in the city of Qom, the center of Iran's Shiite religious authority, where another ceremony will be held on Tuesday, then the body will be flown to hold ceremonies in the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala on Wednesday, while Khamenei's body will be laid to rest on Thursday, following another funeral procession in the city of Mashhad.
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