Srinagar, July 9 -- Srinagar- From Tehran to Qom. from Najaf to Karbala. and finally to Mashhad, the coffins of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and the members of his immediate family killed alongside him in the February 28 US-Israeli strike completed a journey that was as much political as it was spiritual.

What unfolded this week was not merely a state funeral. It became one of the largest public mourning ceremonies ever witnessed in recorded history, stretching across Iran and Iraq and drawing millions into the streets in a powerful display of grief, faith and defiance.

When President Donald Trump launched the war on February 28 alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Washington predicted a different ending. Trump declared...