# To Moscow and Beijing, who came to honor Khamenei without ever naming him

> Since July 3, 2026, Tehran has been living to the rhythm of funeral ceremonies for the former supreme leaderAli Khamenei, killed in

- Author: Maxime Marquette
- Publisher: MadMax (https://mad-max.co)
- Section: Open letter
- Published: 2026-07-06
- Canonical URL: https://mad-max.co/en/article/a-moscou-et-pekin-venus-honorer-khamenei-sans-jamais-le-nommer

## Introduction: an open letter to those who made the trip to **Tehran**

### A capital under the weight of political mourning

*I open this letter with one simple certainty: nothing happening in **Tehran** this week is accidental. Every plane that lands, every dignitary who steps onto the tarmac, tells a story of an **alliance** made or an **alliance** refused.*

Since **July 3, 2026**, **Tehran** has been living to the rhythm of funeral ceremonies for the former **supreme leader** **Ali Khamenei**, killed in late February in a joint American-Israeli strike that triggered the most destructive **war** **Iran** has known in decades. **Delegations** from roughly **a hundred countries** have passed through the Iranian capital, according to **Al Jazeera**, in a diplomatic procession that says a great deal about the real **alliances** of a weakened **Iranian regime**.

I am writing this open letter directly to those who chose to make the trip, particularly the Russian **delegation**, because their presence at these **funerals** is never a neutral gesture: it is a deliberate political choice, with very real consequences for the global **geopolitical** balance.

### **Moscow's** revealing choice

**Russia** sent **Dmitry Medvedev**, deputy chairman of the **Russian Security Council** and personal envoy of **Vladimir Putin**, who met Iranian president **Masoud Pezeshkian** on the sidelines of the ceremonies, according to the **Moscow Times**. Sending a senior official rather than a mere protocol **delegation** confirms, once again, the depth of the strategic partnership between **Moscow** and **Tehran**.

This alliance, already visible in the supply of Iranian **drones** to the Russian army for its **war** against **Ukraine**, takes on an additional symbolic dimension here: paying tribute to the spiritual leader of a regime with which **Russia** now shares a common adversary, the democratic **West**.

*That **Medvedev** would cross half the world to attend these **funerals** should surprise no one: it is confirmation, in plain sight, of an authoritarian axis tightening as each of its members feels increasingly isolated by the **West**.*

## Dear Kremlin, your presence in Tehran fools no one

### An alliance of convenience turned structural

The partnership between **Moscow** and **Tehran** was long presented by both capitals as pragmatic and limited, but the presence of a senior dignitary like **Medvedev** at **Khamenei's** **funeral** shows an evolution toward something deeper and more lasting than a simple transactional arrangement.

This relationship was built on **Russia's** concrete military needs in the midst of its **war** of aggression against **Ukraine**, but it now goes far beyond a strictly military framework to encompass an explicit ideological convergence against the international order dominated by Western **democracies**.

### What this means for Kyiv and for Europe

Every gesture of rapprochement between **Russia** and **Iran** should directly alarm European capitals and **Kyiv**, since this alliance carries very concrete military consequences: Iranian **Shahed drones** keep striking Ukrainian cities, often at night, targeting civilian and energy infrastructure.

Ignoring the symbolic dimension of these funerals would be an analytical mistake: every handshake between Russian and Iranian dignitaries in Tehran this month has a direct translation on the Ukrainian battlefield, in the skies above **Odesa** or **Kharkiv**.

*You cannot denounce the Iranian **drones** raining down on **Ukraine** while closing your eyes to images of Russian dignitaries shaking hands with Iranian officials in Tehran. It is the same alliance, seen from two different angles.*

## Dear **Beijing**, your strategic silence has a price too

### A minimal but calculated Chinese presence

**China** sent **He Wei**, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the **National People's Congress**, marking the first senior Chinese visit to **Iran** since the start of the war, according to **Al Jazeera**. This choice of a mid-level delegation, rather than a direct presidential presence, reflects **Beijing's** usual caution on the most sensitive files in the **Middle East**.

That calculated caution, however, should not obscure the essential fact: **China** remains one of the main buyers of Iranian **oil**, an essential financial lifeline for a regime that Western **sanctions** are precisely designed to economically strangle.

### Beijing's double game of discretion and strategic interest

**Beijing** has spent years cultivating a balancing act in the **Middle East**, maintaining economic ties with **Iran** while avoiding an overtly anti-Western alignment that would hurt its own commercial interests with Europe and the United States.

This approach, far more sophisticated than Moscow's, remains no less problematic for the **West**: it lets **China** reap the economic benefits of its relationship with **Iran** without fully bearing the diplomatic costs, a strategic hypocrisy that must be named clearly.

*Chinese discretion at these funerals is not neutrality, it is pure calculation. Beijing understood long ago that you can finance a regime hostile to the West while keeping your hands apparently clean on the diplomatic stage.*

## The backdrop of a war that changed Iran forever

### A strike that decapitated the regime's leadership

The death of **Khamenei** in late February 2026, in a joint American-Israeli strike, marked the starting point of a devastating war that deeply weakened the **Iranian regime's** power structures, leaving a void at the top that **succession** still struggles to fully fill several months later.

This military operation, however controversial under international law, confirmed the **Western** and Israeli willingness to strike directly at the top of Iranian **power** rather than settling for economic **sanctions** whose effectiveness had proven limited for years.

### An absent son who says a lot about the regime's fragility

**Mojtaba Khamenei**, son of the former **supreme leader** and long-discussed potential successor, did not attend his father's funeral, citing **security** reasons, according to several regional media outlets. This highly symbolic absence shows just how much the **Iranian regime** remains under the threat of new targeted strikes.

A **power** that cannot even guarantee the **security** of its own spiritual leader's son at a national funeral is a deeply shaken power, regardless of how large the popular mobilization organized for the occasion may be.

*A regime too afraid to let its own presumptive successor attend his predecessor's funeral is not a strong regime reassuring its population: it is a regime living in fear of the next strike.*

## Dear Islamabad, your mediation deserves recognition

### A facilitator's role praised even by its rivals

**Pakistan**, which played a key mediating role in the truce that ended the most intense hostilities of this war, sent Prime Minister **Shehbaz Sharif** to attend the funeral, a strong diplomatic gesture that publicly acknowledges Pakistan's role in the recent de-escalation.

This Pakistani **diplomacy**, often underrated on the world stage, deserves recognition for what it is: a rare example of effective regional mediation in a conflict where major **Western** powers could not play the role of neutral intermediary.

### **India**, cautious, keeps its distance

**India**, by comparison, sent only a deputy foreign minister and the governor of **Bihar**, without Prime Minister **Narendra Modi**, a clear signal of diplomatic caution from New Delhi on such a sensitive matter.

This Indian caution contrasts with Russia's eagerness and reflects the balancing position **India** is trying to maintain between its relations with the West, with **Russia** and with the Gulf states, an increasingly difficult diplomatic act to sustain in a polarized world.

*India's restraint at these funerals says more about New Delhi's strategic calculations than any official statement ever could: you don't publicly associate yourself with a regime in turmoil while also cultivating ties with Washington.*

## Dear West, your absence did not go unnoticed

### A total absence that speaks for itself

No major Western country sent an official delegation to these funerals, an absence that stands in sharp contrast with the presence of nearly a hundred **delegations** from elsewhere around the world, according to **Al Jazeera's** coverage. This Western diplomatic silence is not an oversight: it is a political choice consistent with the West's position on this regime.

This absence confirms, if confirmation were needed, that the rupture between the democratic West and the Iranian regime remains total, with no diplomatic ambiguity whatsoever, unlike the more nuanced stance adopted by several countries of the Global South.

### A consistency worth praising despite the criticism

Some observers will accuse the West of excessive diplomatic **isolation** that deprives Western capitals of a useful communication channel with Tehran, but that criticism ignores a fundamental reality: you do not send an official delegation to pay tribute to the spiritual leader of a regime that funds regional terrorism and brutally represses its own population.

This Western consistency, even if it carries a real diplomatic cost, remains the only defensible position toward a regime that has never abandoned its declared hostility toward Western **democracies** and their regional allies.

*The Western absence at these funerals is not a diplomatic error to be corrected, it is a red line to be maintained. You do not normalize a regime in the midst of a legitimacy **crisis** just to keep a communication channel open.*

## The weight of Iranian popular mobilization

### Millions in the Iranian streets

Iranian authorities cite between **fifteen and twenty million** people taking part in the various funeral ceremonies across the country, according to **The News International**, an impressive figure that reflects both genuine national mourning and a mobilization carefully orchestrated by a regime seeking to project an image of restored national cohesion.

It is nonetheless difficult to separate, in this kind of state-organized mobilization, the share of authentic grief from that of social and political pressure exerted on an **Iranian population** exhausted by months of war and severe economic hardship.

### A regime that needs this display of strength

This massive mobilization above all serves the interests of a weakened Iranian regime, which needs to project an image of popular solidity at a particularly critical moment in its recent history, marked by a devastating war and an uncertain political **succession** at the top of the state.

The contrast between this organized display of strength and the reality of a power deeply weakened by the war illustrates the persistent gap between official Iranian propaganda and the actual situation on the ground, a gap **Western** observers must keep documenting rigorously.

*Millions of people in the street never, by themselves, prove the solidity of an authoritarian regime: history is full of examples of massive mobilizations organized just before the final collapse of the power in place.*

## The funeral calendar as a political instrument

### A carefully orchestrated multi-day sequence

The funeral calendar spans several days, from **Tehran** on July 3 and 4 to **Qom** on July 7, then on to **Iraq**, **Najaf** and **Karbala** on July 8, before final burial in **Mashhad** on July 9, according to several regional media outlets. This extended sequence lets the regime maximize media coverage and popular mobilization over nearly an entire week.

The stops at Shiite holy sites in **Iraq** are not incidental: they aim to strengthen the religious and political ties between Iran and the Iraqi Shiite **militias** that remain essential strategic allies of Tehran in the region.

### Funeral **diplomacy** in the service of regional **influence**

This strategic use of national mourning as a tool of regional foreign policy illustrates the sophistication of the Iranian regime in managing its image, even at the most vulnerable moment of its recent political history, marked by the loss of its historic spiritual leader.

The West would be wrong to underestimate this Iranian capacity to turn a **succession** crisis into an opportunity to strengthen its network of regional alliances, particularly among Shiite populations in Iraq, Lebanon and elsewhere in the region.

*Even in the midst of political chaos, this regime finds a way to turn a funeral into a tool of regional propaganda. It must be credited, if nothing else, with a remarkable capacity for communicational resilience.*

## What this diplomatic map reveals about the world of 2026

### An increasingly stark global polarization

The list of countries present and absent at these funerals draws, almost perfectly, the map of the **geopolitical** blocs structuring the world of **2026**: on one side, an axis grouping **Russia**, **China** and several countries of the Global South; on the other, a democratic West united in its deliberate, consistent absence.

This polarization, documented in black and white by the list of **delegations** present according to the **Eastern Herald**, confirms that the war in **Iran** never remained a purely regional conflict: it fits squarely into the broader confrontation between Western **democracies** and allied authoritarian regimes.

### A lesson for **Western** strategists

This diplomatic map should serve as a lesson for **Western** decision-makers: the **isolation** of the Iranian regime remains largely theoretical as long as Russia and **China** keep providing it with substantial diplomatic and economic support, even in a discreet, calculated form like the one observed in Tehran this week.

A coherent Western strategy against Iran must necessarily include increased pressure on these two strategic partners of the regime, rather than focusing solely on Tehran itself, isolated but still supported from outside.

*Sanctioning Iran without seriously tackling the mechanisms that let Russia and China keep supporting it is like fighting a fire while ignoring the source still feeding it.*

## The murky role of Chinese energy **diplomacy**

### Iranian **oil**, an essential financial lifeline

Chinese imports of Iranian **oil**, often carried out through roundabout channels to bypass Western **sanctions**, make up one of the main sources of revenue for the Tehran regime, an economic reality that largely explains the Chinese diplomatic caution seen at these funerals.

This mutual dependence, economic for Iran and strategic for a China that secures part of its energy supply this way, creates a structural bond far stronger than the mere protocol presence of a mid-level Chinese dignitary at **Khamenei's** funeral.

### A hypocrisy worth documenting

Beijing continues to publicly call for **regional stability** and diplomatic dialogue while, in practice, financing a regime whose destabilizing regional activities have been documented for decades by numerous Western and UN reports.

This contradiction between official Chinese rhetoric and its concrete economic actions deserves to be systematically exposed by Western diplomats, rather than treated as a minor detail in the broader Sino-Western relationship.

*Beijing cannot keep presenting itself as an agent of **regional stability** while, through its oil purchases, financing a regime that fuels the very instability it claims to fight. That contradiction should be repeated at every international summit.*

## The consequences for regional stability in the short term

### A succession that remains largely uncertain

Despite these carefully orchestrated state funerals, the question of real succession at the top of Iranian religious and political power remains largely unresolved, an institutional uncertainty that could fuel dangerous internal rivalries in the months ahead.

This succession uncertainty, combined with the regime's military and economic weakening after months of war, creates a particularly volatile context that warrants close monitoring by Western intelligence services.

### A risk of internal fragmentation that should not be underestimated

Some regional analysts now point to a real risk of internal fragmentation of Iranian power, among military, religious and political factions that could vie for more direct control in the post-**Khamenei** era, a scenario that would have major repercussions across the entire **Middle East**.

The West must prepare for several possible scenarios, rather than assuming an automatic continuity of the regime under a new, unified leadership, given how high current uncertainty remains according to several recent regional analyses.

*No one should bet today on what Iran will look like in a year. That uncertainty is precisely what makes this period as dangerous as it is fascinating for anyone following this story closely.*

## Dear Western reader, here is why this matters to you

### A direct link to your energy and military **security**

What is happening in **Tehran** right now is not some distant event without direct consequences for Western citizens: the alliances being confirmed at these funerals have a concrete impact on energy prices, on European security in the face of Iranian drones used by Russia, and on the overall stability of the Middle East.

Understanding who was in Tehran this week, and why, means understanding an essential part of the map of alliances that will shape the major conflicts and tensions of the coming years worldwide.

### An invitation to stay vigilant rather than indifferent

It would be easy to treat these funerals as a simple Iranian religious and cultural event with no great significance for the rest of the world, but that superficial reading would ignore the major **geopolitical** dimension of every diplomatic gesture made this week in Tehran.

I invite you, as Western readers, to follow this story with the same attention you would give any major development directly affecting your collective security, because that is exactly what is at stake here.

*What is happening in Tehran this week will, one way or another, end up affecting the price of your gasoline, the security of your European allies, or the stability of regions on which a large share of the global economy depends.*

## What history will remember about this generational transition

### A regime forced to improvise its own continuity

The manner in which the **Iranian regime** has handled this **succession** crisis, improvising a lengthy funeral calendar rather than presenting a clear, prepared transition plan, suggests a leadership caught off guard by the speed and violence of recent events, despite decades spent theoretically preparing for this exact moment.

This apparent improvisation matters because a regime that cannot manage its own institutional continuity smoothly is a regime more vulnerable to miscalculation, both toward its own population and toward its regional and international adversaries.

### Why Western patience should have limits

Some Western commentators will argue for patience, suggesting that a weakened Iranian regime might eventually moderate its behavior once the succession settles, but this open letter takes a different, more skeptical position: regimes under maximum internal pressure often become more dangerous, not less, as they search for external distractions from domestic fragility.

Western capitals would be wise to treat this transition period as a moment of heightened risk requiring vigilance, rather than a natural opening for renewed diplomatic outreach toward a regime that has given no indication of genuine change.

*I do not believe a wounded regime becomes a gentler regime by default. History suggests the opposite far more often, and this open letter is written with that uncomfortable lesson in mind.*

## A final word before this letter closes

### Why I chose the format of an open letter

I chose to write this piece as an open letter rather than a conventional analysis because some truths land harder when addressed directly to those responsible for them, rather than filtered through the more distant, impersonal voice of a third-person report.

Addressing **Moscow**, **Beijing**, **Islamabad** and the **West** directly is a deliberate rhetorical choice, meant to make the stakes of this diplomatic map feel immediate rather than abstract, even though none of these capitals will ever formally respond to a columnist's letter.

*Writing directly to power, even knowing it will not answer, remains one of the oldest and most honest forms of public accountability a columnist can practice.*

## Conclusion: a letter that stays open, like Iran's future

### What this week taught us collectively

The funeral of **Ali Khamenei** will have revealed, in just a few days, the true architecture of the world's alliances in **2026**: a Russo-Chinese axis quietly but firmly backing the Iranian regime, a Global South divided between caution and religious solidarity, and a democratic West united in its deliberate, consistent absence.

This diplomatic map, drawn in black and white by the list of **delegations** present and absent in Tehran, deserves careful study by anyone seeking to understand the fault lines that will shape the major international conflicts of the coming years.

### A letter that will remain unanswered, and that is just fine

This open letter, addressed to Moscow, to Beijing, to Islamabad and to the West as a whole, will probably never receive a direct official reply, and that was never really its purpose anyway: it aimed instead to document, for the record, what the funeral diplomacy of a regime in existential crisis truly reveals.

Iran's future remains as uncertain as the succession of its former **supreme leader**, but one thing already seems clear: the alliances confirmed this week in Tehran will keep shaping global geopolitics long after the last echoes of these funerals have faded.

**By Maxime Marquette, columnist**

## Columnist's transparency note

### Editorial stance

I am not a journalist but a **columnist and analyst**. My expertise lies in observing and analysing the geopolitical, economic and strategic dynamics that shape our world. My work is to take political strategies apart, to understand global economic movements, to put the decisions of international actors in context and to offer analytical perspectives on the changes that are redefining our societies.

I do not claim the cold objectivity of traditional journalism, which stops at reporting facts. **I claim analytical clarity**, rigorous interpretation and a deep understanding of the complex issues that concern us all. My role is to give meaning to the facts, to place them in their historical and strategic context, and to offer a critical reading of events.

### Method and sources

This text keeps the basic distinction between **verified facts and interpretive analysis**. The rule never changes: a factual claim is published only when a verifiable source supports it, and the sources this article actually used are listed under **Sources**, never here.

**Primary source families** used by the publication, when the story has them: official statements from governments and international institutions, public statements by political leaders, reports from intergovernmental organisations, dispatches from recognised international news agencies.

**Secondary source families**: specialised publications, internationally recognised news media, analyses from established research institutions, reports from industry organisations.

When an article cites statistical, economic or geopolitical data, it comes from the institutions that produce it (intergovernmental organisations, central banks, national statistics offices), and the exact institution is named under **Sources**.

### Nature of the analysis

The analyses, interpretations and perspectives in the analytical sections of this article are a **critical, contextual synthesis** based on the information available, the trends observed and the expert comments cited in the sources consulted.

My role is to interpret these facts, to set them in the context of today's geopolitical and economic dynamics, and to give them a coherent meaning within the larger story of the changes shaping our time. These analyses reflect expertise built through continuous observation of international affairs and an understanding of the strategic mechanisms that drive global actors.

This article describes a documented state of affairs on its publication date, not a prediction: later developments may shift its outlook. No update is promised in advance; when an article is corrected or completed, the change is dated in the text.

## Sources

### Primary sources

- Al Jazeera — Iran's Khamenei funeral: Which world leaders are attending, July 3, 2026

- Iran International — Coverage of Khamenei's funeral, July 3, 2026

- The Moscow Times — Medvedev to lead Russian delegation at Iranian supreme leader's funeral, July 2, 2026

### Secondary sources

- The News International — Khamenei funeral: millions gather in Iran, July 3, 2026

- Eastern Herald — Khamenei funeral Tehran: diplomatic attendance map, July 3, 2026

- Foreign Policy — Analyses of regional alliances and the Iran-Israel-US war, July 2026

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Source: Maxime Marquette, MadMax. When citing, name the author and link https://mad-max.co/en/article/a-moscou-et-pekin-venus-honorer-khamenei-sans-jamais-le-nommer