Iran has ruled out negotiations with the United States as it prepares for a three-day state funeral for its late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in recent US-Israeli strikes.
Mohammad Mokhber, a senior aide to Khamenei, told state television that Tehran has no intention of engaging Washington diplomatically amid the escalating regional conflict.
“We have no trust in the Americans and we have no basis for any negotiations with them,” Mokhber said. “We can continue the war as long as we want.”
The remarks underscore Tehran’s hardened stance as tensions intensify across the Middle East following coordinated strikes that killed the 86-year-old leader, who had stood at the helm of the Islamic Republic for decades.
According to the official news agency IRNA, Iranians will be able to pay their respects beginning at 10:00 p.m. local time at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosque in Tehran.
Khamenei will later be laid to rest in his hometown of Mashhad in northeastern Iran.
As the country mourns, questions are mounting over what his death means for the future of the Islamic Republic.
In an interview with AFP, Farah Pahlavi — widow of Iran’s last shah — described Khamenei’s death as “historically significant” but cautioned against assuming it would automatically bring down the system of governance established after the 1979 revolution.
“The passing of a man — however central he may be to the architecture of power — does not automatically mean the end of a system,” she said from exile in Paris.
Pahlavi argued that the decisive factor would be “the ability of the Iranian people to unite around a peaceful, orderly and sovereign transition to a state governed by the rule of law.”
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She added that her son, Reza Pahlavi, is preparing for such a possibility and has positioned himself as an alternative should the Islamic Republic falter.
Reza Pahlavi, who has lived in the United States for decades and has not returned to Iran since before the revolution, called for national unity in a post on X, urging ethnic minorities not to exploit the current turmoil to pursue separatist ambitions.
Farah Pahlavi also appealed to the international community to support the Iranian people rather than geopolitical agendas.
“What I want is for the international community to clearly support the fundamental rights of Iranians: the right to choose their leaders, to express themselves freely, to live in dignity and prosperity,” she said. “
The support must go to the people, not to geopolitical calculations.”
She further urged Iranian authorities “to show restraint and avoid any bloodshed,” referencing previous unrest in Tehran that was met with a violent crackdown.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency has reported thousands of deaths during past protests, though casualty figures remain difficult to independently verify.
As funeral rites begin and political uncertainty deepens, many Iranians now face an anxious wait — balancing grief, fear, and cautious hope about what lies ahead for their nation.