While millions of Iranians struggle through summer heat without reliable electricity, the country’s political establishment and state-controlled media prioritize revenge.
The contrast is striking. One day after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s funeral, two districts in Tehran faced four hours of power cuts in the sweltering 107°F heat, with further power cuts announced for Tehran and other major cities like Mashhad where Khamenei was buried.
Iranian state television, for example, was euphoric in announcing the sudden death of U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina).
In southern Iranian cities, temperatures will climb to 122°F, yet the dominant headlines across Iran’s state media ignore the electricity crisis and hardships facing ordinary citizens and instead prioritize vengeance, denunciations of the United States, and inflammatory rhetoric directed at other Western European leaders.
Iranian state television, for example, was euphoric in announcing the sudden death of U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) in a manner that reflected the tone dominating official discourse. The news anchor declared, smiling, “Dear viewers, Lindsey Graham has gone to hell! Senator Graham was one of the most anti-Iranian figures in the U.S. Congress and always supported [President] Trump’s attacks against Iran. … Provoking attacks against Iran, being joyful at people in Iran being killed, and his support for the child-murdering Zionist regime was among this U.S. Senator’s track record.”
The presenter then added: “This is such good news that I would like to read it again to you.” He repeated the announcement, word for word.
The report appeared on Iranian media before Western outlets had widely reported the news, underscoring the importance Iranian state broadcasters attached to the story.
The revenge rhetoric following Khamenei’s funeral has become a defining theme across Iran’s official media and political establishment.
Among the most uncompromising speeches came from Ali Khomeini, grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic. Speaking in Qom during the first night of commemorations following Khamenei’s burial, he declared, “How can we not avenge our leader’s murder? We will never engage in talks with the United States for peace.”
He dismissed suggestions that Iran should hope for the Democrats to defeat President Donald Trump in the U.S. mid-term elections. “For us,” he argued, “there is no difference between Republicans and Democrats.” He mocked the idea by asking, “Should we contemplate the demise of the yellow dog [a reference to Trump] only to have him replaced by a jackal?”
The audience responded with chants of “Death to America!” “Death to Republicans!” and “Death to Democrats!”
Ali Khomeini went further, declaring, “If we engage in talks today, it is not to reach peace with the United States. Talks mean war, and war has different manifestations. Anyone who mentions talks for the purpose of bringing about peace is a traitor. Anyone who sends a message of friendship to America has an evil and unclean mouth. Our entire identity is defined in not compromising with America.”
The speech came only days after an awkward episode during Khamenei’s farewell ceremony. When Ali Khomeini and the other Khomeini grandchildren stood beside Khamenei’s coffin to pay their respects, the Qur’anic verse recited admonished those who abandon holy war in favor of wealth and comfortable living. They left the stage before the recitation had concluded.
“If we engage in talks today, it is not to reach peace with the United States. Talks mean war, and war has different manifestations.”
Whether Ali Khomeini’s subsequent hardline speech was intended as a response to that humiliation is unclear. It nevertheless projected an image of unwavering revolutionary commitment from the founder’s descendants.
Calls for revenge have since dominated Iranian news platforms. Official figures and media outlets appear to compete over who can deliver the strongest language. One prominent example came from Hamshahri Online, the news outlet run by the Tehran Municipality. The publication released a poster depicting individuals in orange prison outfits and presented them as targets whose deaths would avenge Iran’s supreme leader. The poster’s headline read “Revenge is Certain!”
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu top the list, but it includes Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Absent from the list is U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
