Iran's Ashura commemoration blends faith and state support

Since the start of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, last week, many streets and neighborhoods in Tehran and other Iranian cities have been draped in black cloth as a sign of mourning. Wednesday and Thursday marked Tasua and Ashura, declared annual public holidays by Iranian authorities, commemorating the slaying of Hussein ibn Ali, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and the third of 12 Shia imams, more than 1,300 years ago.

For the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ashura carries deep political meaning. The state views itself as the continuation of Hussein, the "martyr" leader who chose to die with his fighters and family in a rebellion rather than submit to the unjust rule of the Umayyad kings of the time.

In this context, fallen commanders of the Tehran-backed "axis of resistance," mostly Shia Muslims, such as Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, are believed by supporters to have achieved the highest honor in death. Khamenei, who held absolute power for nearly 37 years, is now called "seyyed ol-shohada" (the noblest martyr) by state media and some devotees, a title traditionally associated with Imam Hussein.

More than four months after his death at the start of the war with the U.S. and Israel in central Tehran on February 28, Khamenei is expected to be laid to rest in the second week of July, during Muharram. After six days of events across several cities, he will be buried at the Imam Reza shrine in northeastern Mashhad. Weeks after the funeral, Iranian cities are expected to remain draped in black flags.

Ashura events

Mosques, squares, and streets across Iran are now filled with black Ashura tents and stations bearing pro-state messages, some featuring images of officials killed in the war. They broadcast religious music and chants day and night, especially at night, and occasionally distribute tea and drinks. Tehran's Revolution Square and other key areas are cordoned off at night for large-scale state-organized events.

Ashura funeral processions also move through some neighborhoods, carrying "alam" (ritual flags) associated with Karbala, the Iraqi city where Imam Hussein was killed. Many processions are organized by state-linked groups and pro-government demonstrators who have taken to the streets every night since the war began. Some are guarded by police and armed forces.

In certain open spaces and funeral gathering places called tekkiyeh, there are rhythmic rituals and synchronized chest-beating, along with "zanjir-zani" (self-flagellation on the shoulders and back with light chains and other tools). Elegiac songs and lamentations in Persian and Arabic, broadcast through loudspeakers, are sometimes mixed with drums or live percussion among crowds on streets illuminated by deep red lights. Food distribution stations are also set up in mosques or on streets, handing out charity meals organized by the state or community.

Religious tradition

However, not every Ashura ritual is linked to the state. Some Iranians observe the event based on religious traditions passed down through generations, or in honor of recently deceased relatives. "My family cooks ash-e reshteh on Ashura night and takes it to neighbors' homes as a gesture of respect and to remember my grandfather, who passed away," a young woman living in western Tehran told Al Jazeera.

This year, some Iranian families used Muharram and Ashura gatherings as a way to commemorate loved ones killed in nationwide protests in January. Viral social media clips this week from several cities, including Isfahan and Amol, showed mothers and other family members of slain protesters sobbing as they held up photos to remember their relatives during Muharram ceremonies. Thousands were killed, mostly on the nights of January 8 and 9 during a total internet and communications blackout.

For the authorities and their most ardent supporters, this year's funeral events offer another opportunity to denounce foreign powers and their plans for Iran, as the country engages in talks with Washington after signing a memorandum of understanding last week to end the four-month U.S.-Israel war with Iran. State media has aired interviews with supporters on the streets who say they do not trust the U.S.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who backs a negotiated solution with the U.S. and earlier this week said he feared another wave of protests amid growing public discontent, used the Ashura night to deliver a message of national unity and wartime resistance. "Any message, statement or action that harms unity and consensus benefits the enemy, even if the criticism is justified," he said, speaking Wednesday evening at the mausoleum of late Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini, who led Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.