00:03Good evening, you're watching NewsTrack with me, Maria Shaquille.
00:07The images from Ayatollah Khamenei's funeral in Tehran are striking.
00:12Massive crowds filling the streets, black-clad moaners marching in unison,
00:19raising anti-America and Israel chants.
00:22The funeral procession has transformed into a powerful political and diplomatic statement.
00:28For a regime that has faced years of public anger over economic hardship,
00:33restrictions and political repression, the scale of the mobilization raises a crucial question now.
00:40Has the U.S.-Israel's war on Iran ended up doing what decades of state messaging could not,
00:49bringing more Iranians behind the leadership?
00:52Has Donald Trump ended up uniting Iran behind the regime,
00:57now more than ever before.
00:59Before I bring in the guests, here's a report.
01:09From mourning to mobilization.
01:18Four days of public mourning and the political message is only growing louder.
01:27The funeral procession for Iran's slain supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei,
01:34has drawn enormous crowds dressed in black,
01:38with red flags of martyrdom visible across the skyline.
01:44Chants of death to America and death to Israel are heard as moaners packed Tehran's streets
01:52in one of the biggest state-organized displays in years.
02:07The message is clear that Iran remains defiant and united.
02:18People have written about longing, about bravery and revenge.
02:21We hope Agha's blood doesn't remain unanswered.
02:28I feel brave. People have come to their selves. They support each other.
02:32They just realized who they have lost, a leader of the nation and Agha.
02:36When Agha died, I felt if my own father had died again.
02:41I have a strange feeling. When my father died, I didn't cry as much as I cried
02:52when the supreme leader was martyred.
03:00The carefully choreographed ceremonies are now moving behind Tehran
03:05to the holy city of Qom.
03:06Before continuing to Najaf and Karbala in neighbouring Iraq.
03:16The symbolism is unmistakable.
03:20The leadership wants to frame the assassination of its supreme leader
03:25not just as a national tragedy, but as an attack on the nation itself.
03:34But U.S. President Donald Trump seems determined to do even more damage
03:39than he already has.
03:42He has once again warned Iran it would either make a deal
03:46or Washington would finish the job.
03:49Even as he said he preferred diplomacy,
03:52Trump warned the U.S. could cripple Iran's infrastructure within hours.
03:58We're either going to make a deal or we're going to finish the job.
04:00Okay?
04:01And it won't be tough to finish the job.
04:04I'd rather make a deal
04:06because I don't want to affect 91 million people.
04:09We can knock down their bridges in one hour.
04:11We can knock out their energy supply,
04:15all of those big plants that they built,
04:17big, beautiful, modern plants.
04:19They had a lot of money.
04:19They don't have any money now.
04:21We haven't given them any money.
04:23But we can knock out their electricity and power generating plants.
04:28And I would say a small part of an afternoon,
04:33every plant will be gone.
04:35And they know that.
04:37Iran's response was swift.
04:39Foreign Minister Abbas Daraqchi has said
04:42meaningful negotiations can't begin under threats.
04:46For Iran's leadership,
04:48Trump's rhetoric may be proving politically valuable.
04:52For years,
04:54Iran has been marked by deep public frustration over the economy,
04:57political repression and international isolation.
05:02But history has repeatedly shown that
05:04when Iran faces what many perceive as an external threat,
05:08internal divisions often give way to nationalism.
05:15Even many Iranian critical of their regime
05:18can rally behind the state
05:20when they believe the country's sovereignty is under attack.
05:24That is the narrative Tehran is now amplifying.
05:31The assassination,
05:33the funeral processions
05:34and Trump's warnings
05:36are being woven into a single story,
05:39one of resistance against foreign pressure.
05:46The Iranian side is also not happy
05:49with the continuous operation of Israel
05:51in the south of the Lebanon.
05:52So we have to see,
05:54we have to very consciously,
05:57very alertlessly see next 48 hours
06:00because after 9th of July,
06:02we will see what will be the action
06:04from the Iranian side
06:06because this is the main important aspect
06:08which they wanted to complete.
06:10and when the funeral ceremony is completed,
06:12then we will see the diplomatic
06:14and the more aggressive actions by the IRGC.
06:18Whether that unity survives
06:20after the mourning ends
06:21is another question.
06:24With Sumit Chaudhry in Tehran,
06:27Bureau Report, India Today.
06:29Let's do it again.
06:29Welcome to the
06:30Through you,
06:32it also is eaten on the
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