TEHRAN — Hundreds of thousands of mourners lined the streets of downtown Tehran on Saturday for the funeral of 60 military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians martyred during a 12-day U.S.-backed Israeli aggression.
The caskets of Muhammad Bagheri, the second-in-command of the armed forces, IRGC chief Gen. Hussein Salami, the head of the IRGC’s Aerospace Forces, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh and others were driven on trucks along the capital’s Azadi Street for about 11 kilometers from the iconic Enghelab Square as people in the crowds chanted: “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”
“Boom boom Tel Aviv,” read one banner, referring to Iranian missiles fired at Israel during the conflict in retaliation for its attacks on Iran.
Generals Bagheri, Salami and Hajizadeh were both martyred on the first day of the aggression, June 13.
Reports said more than 1 million people turned out for the funeral procession, including President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was also on hand, as was Gen. Esmail Qa’ani, who heads the foreign wing of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), the Quds Force, and Gen. Ali Shamkhani. 
Shamkhani, who was wounded in the first round of Israel’s attack and hospitalized, was shown in a civilian suit leaning on a cane in an image distributed on national television’s Telegram channel.
“Iranians gave blood, not land; gave their loved ones, not honor; they withstood a thousand-ton rain of bombs, but did not surrender,” Araghchi said on his Instagram account, adding that Iran does not recognize the word “surrender”.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei, who attended the procession, paid flowing tributes to the martyrs in a message on X.  
“Today, the zealous people of Iran carry on their shoulders, with heavy sorrow but standing steadfast and powerful, some of their purest and most patriotic sons and daughters - commanders, elites, athletes, women and children of this land - who were martyred during the war imposed by the aggressor Zionist regime, and with indescribable respect, they lay them to rest on the soil of their homeland like mythical heroes; so that each one may become a seed for the growth of other heroes,” he wrote.
Mohsen Mahmoudi, head of Tehran’s Islamic Development Coordination Council, called it a “historic day for Islamic Iran and the revolution”.
Many in the crowd expressed feelings of anger.
“This is not a ceasefire, this is just a pause,” said 43-year-old Ahmad Mousapoor, waving an Iranian flag. “Whatever they do, we will definitely give a crushing response.”
National media published images of an open grave plot at Tehran’s Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery where Gen. Bagheri was to be buried beside his brother, an IRGC commander martyred during the imposed Iraqi war of the 1980s on Iran. He was buried alongside his wife and daughter, a journalist for a local media outlet, all martyred in an Israeli attack in Tehran.
Nuclear scientist Muhammad Mehdi Tehranchi, also martyred in the savage aggression, was buried with his wife in Shahr-e Rey near Tehran.
Many of the others were to be buried in their hometowns. Among them was Gen. Salami who will be laid to rest after Saturday’s ceremony — which will also honor at least 30 other top commanders.
Iranian officials say more than 600 people, mostly civilians, were martyred in the Israeli and U.S. aggression against Iran.
The ceremony coincided with the second day of the Islamic month of Muharram, which commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS), the third Shia Imam, and his 72 companions.
In 680 AD, Imam Hussein (AS) and his followers fought bravely for justice against the much larger army of the Umayyad caliph, Yazid I, in the Battle of Karbala, in southern Iraq.
“Iranians have proven that they are the nation of Imam Hussein; a nation that, in the battle of truth against falsehood, relying on faith, steadfastness, and national solidarity, has the ability to overcome any evil,” Baghaei wrote.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said the funeral was not “just a farewell ceremony; it was a demonstration of the unity of a nation that responded to terror with the language of presence”.
It hailed Iran as “a nation that has been tested many times on the path of independence, freedom, and dignity and has emerged victorious”.
“This steadfast presence is not only a sign of the people’s loyalty to the path of sacrifice and resistance for the homeland and dignity of the people of Iran, but also sends a clear message to the world: the people of Iran are turning threats into unity, and war into an opportunity to realize a national will and continue on the path.”