INTERNACIONAL
Khamenei’s ‘target-rich’ funeral is Iran’s biggest security gamble, sends message to US: expert
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Iran’s decision to hold a July funeral for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is a high-stakes bet that any emerging peace deal with the United States will hold, potentially creating a «target-rich» gathering of Tehran’s most isolated leaders, a counterterrorism expert warned Sunday.
The multi-day state funeral, announced by Iranian state media on June 13, is scheduled to begin in Tehran on July 4 and end with Khamenei’s burial in the holy city of Mashhad on July 9, Reuters reported.
According to Dr. Omar Mohammed, director of the Antisemitism Research Initiative at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, the timing serves as a deliberate message to America.
«A mass funeral is the most target-rich event this regime could stage, and now they would not risk one until they are confident it wouldn’t be hit,» Mohammed told Fox News Digital.
IRAN HOLDS FUNERAL FOR TOP COMMANDERS, NUCLEAR SCIENTISTS KILLED IN ISRAELI OPERATION
A motorist rides past a banner featuring images of Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his son Mojtaba Khamenei along a street in Tehran on April 15, 2026. (AFP/Getty Images)
«But it is the staging of this funeral that is the message, and the message is aimed at America as much as at Iranians.»
The announcement also coincided with a major diplomatic breakthrough, coming as President Donald Trump announced that a peace deal with Tehran is expected to be signed Sunday.
«The regime could sign a deal that lets it keep its leverage, then bury its leader as the victor who won it,» Mohammed said.
«Announcing the funeral Saturday as Pakistan said the final text of a deal was reached and signing is close, is their bet that the ceasefire holds into July.»
Khamenei was killed on Feb. 28 during the opening salvo of U.S. and Israeli airstrikes against Iran, ending a 36-year tenure leading the Islamic Republic. He was 86.
Experts say the regime is using the four-month delay since the February strikes to completely reframe the narrative of the conflict.
«Khamenei goes into the ground as a man America murdered, so the deal becomes a tactical pause — revenge deferred, not abandoned,» Mohammed observed. «The deeper logic is that you bury the leader as a victor, not a victim.»
«They can now stage the funeral as the war’s victory monument: the martyred Imam laid to rest as the man whose resistance forced America to terms,» Mohammed added.
«The four-month delay was not only security. It was waiting for a win to bury him.»
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI, SUPREME LEADER OF IRAN
Supporters gather in Baghdad’s Sadr district holding Iranian flags and posters of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following the announcement that he was killed in U.S.-Israeli attacks on March 1, 2026. (Murtadha Al-Sudani/Anadolu)
Following three days of public ceremonies in Tehran, the procession will move to the clerical heartland of Qom on July 7 before concluding in Mashhad on July 9.
Analysts note the dates heavily leverage deep Shia religious iconography, falling directly within the holy mourning month of Muharram.
«This is also a staged passion play, not a schedule because the dates fall within Muharram, the Shia mourning month centered on Imam Hussein’s martyrdom at Karbala, and the burial on July 9 is timed to the eve of another Imam’s martyrdom,» Mohammed said.
«The body goes into the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad — the only one of the 12 Imams buried in Iran, and the holiest site in Iranian Shiism — giving the regime a permanent martyr’s shrine and mobilization site for years.»
Mohammed noted that scheduling the opening ceremonies on the 250th anniversary of America’s Independence Day carries deliberate geopolitical signaling.
«The regime had room to choose which Muharram days and, at a minimum, it’s a message they are happy to broadcast; very possibly it’s the point — while America marks 250 years, Iran opens the funeral of the leader America killed and calls it the beginning of its victory.»
LETHAL ELITE ‘BLACK-CLAD’ KILL SQUAD GUARDS IRAN’S NEW SUPREME LEADER MOJTABA KHAMENEI
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is shown in a portrait image. (Fox News)
The highly public, multi-city route presents a massive security vulnerability for Iran’s new leadership.
Khamenei’s son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, has remained entirely in hiding due to targeted security threats and reported injury since the war began.
«By every tradition, the son leads the prayers and stands at the grave; it is the act that consecrates the succession,» Mohammed noted.
«But Mojtaba has not appeared in public since the war began, runs the country by courier, and is a designated target — and a funeral is a pre-announced time and place. For a man whose every confirmed sighting is a coordinate, July 9 in Mashhad is the most dangerous appointment of his rule.»
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«The regime is boxed: It needs the son at the father’s grave to crown the dynasty, but putting him there exposes him as never before,» Mohammed concluded.
«If he appears, it’s his first sighting and a gamble; if he doesn’t, the dynasty is consecrated by an absence.»
mojtaba khamenei, ali khamenei, counter terrorism, war with iran, iran
Las bandas criminales han comenzado a utilizar las escuelas y colegios como lugares para captar a menores de edad en redes de explotación sexual comercial, según lo revela el Informe Explotación sexual comercial de niños, niñas y adolescentes (ESCNNA) publicado este año. El documento, elaborado por el Programa Interdisciplinario de Estudios y Acción Social de los Derechos de la Niñez y la Adolescencia (Pridena) de la Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR) y el Instituto de Estudios Interdisciplinarios de la Niñez y la Adolescencia (Ineina) de la Universidad Nacional (UNA), describe cómo los entornos educativos en Puntarenas, Corredores y Garabito han sido utilizados para el reclutamiento de víctimas.
La investigación, que fue citada por CR Hoy en su cobertura, identifica que la problemática se agrava por la exclusión social, la pobreza, la desmotivación estudiantil, la falta de oportunidades y la presencia del narcotráfico. Todos estos factores han creado un ambiente donde los menores de edad resultan vulnerables ante las redes de explotación sexual.
Según el informe, los centros educativos cumplen una doble función. Por un lado, se presentan como espacios de protección institucional para los estudiantes. Por otro, pueden convertirse en escenarios donde operan redes de explotación sexual comercial. Dentro de las escuelas y colegios, algunos menores de edad, que ya se encuentran vinculados a grupos criminales, buscan reclutar a sus propios compañeros para integrarlos en estas redes.
Entre las formas de captación identificadas, destaca que el primer contacto con las víctimas puede producirse dentro de los mismos centros educativos. Los grupos criminales utilizan a estudiantes para acercarse a otros alumnos y convencerlos de integrarse a la red con promesas de protección y beneficios económicos. Además, el informe advierte que las redes sociales juegan un papel importante, ya que son empleadas para captar víctimas y para promover la cosificación y sexualización del cuerpo femenino.
El estudio también señala la falta de una estadística específica en Costa Rica sobre procesos judiciales relacionados con la explotación sexual comercial de personas menores de edad. Aunque existen delitos vinculados, la carencia de datos dificulta dimensionar la magnitud del problema. Como referencia, el Ministerio Público reportó durante 2025 un total de 3,203 casos por el delito de relaciones sexuales con personas menores de edad.
En cuanto a la respuesta institucional, la investigación indica que las fiscalías especializadas han dirigido sus esfuerzos en el endurecimiento de las penas, sin avanzar en igual medida en la prevención. El informe resalta la necesidad de fortalecer las acciones preventivas a través de una mayor inversión social y la creación de un programa nacional de prevención de la explotación sexual.
Ante la consulta sobre las acciones del Patronato Nacional de la Infancia (PANI), la institución reconoció que enfrenta importantes desafíos para garantizar los derechos de las personas menores de edad, especialmente de las víctimas. El PANI destacó que la complejidad del fenómeno y de los delitos asociados exige la articulación de procesos integrales, interinstitucionales e intersectoriales.
El análisis desarrollado por Pridena y Ineina se basó en información aportada por diferentes instituciones públicas, entre ellas el PANI, y en relatos de familias afectadas. El informe incluye el caso de una madre que detalló cómo su hija fue contactada indirectamente por un grupo criminal a través de otra estudiante del colegio. Esta situación evidencia el nivel de vulnerabilidad al que están expuestos los menores de edad en los entornos educativos.
La investigación concluye que la presencia del narcotráfico, la violencia y las brechas sociales han facilitado la operación de redes de explotación sexual comercial que utilizan estrategias de captación cada vez más sofisticadas. El fenómeno afecta tanto a las víctimas como a las instituciones encargadas de su protección, que reconocen la necesidad de respuestas más amplias y coordinadas para hacer frente a esta problemática.
Nicaragua,educación,aula,escuela,secundaria,pupitres
INTERNACIONAL
Trump shares news of ‘crytal clear’ Reflecting Pool, calls for vandalism suspect’s arrest
Secretary Burgum condemns vandalism targeting National Mall amid new threats
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum reacts to a disturbing pattern of vandalism targeting the National Mall, including the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which suffered significant damage. Burgum details the restoration efforts, the deployment of security and the arrest of seven individuals involved. He stresses that such acts are an attack on the country and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
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President Donald Trump and his Interior Department are declaring an America 250 victory over algae in the Lincoln Reflecting Pool.
Trump shared photos on Truth Social on Sunday showing the pool and the reflection of the Washington Monument appearing clear and blue, and made a call out with a «Wanted» poster for vandals.
«The U.S. Park Police is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the individual in the notice below in connection with a Destruction of Government Property investigation related to the Reflecting Pool,» Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social.
Trump also shared an Interior Department statement crediting «advanced nanobubbler technology» and National Park Service cleanup work.
FORMER US OLYMPIAN DAVID HEARN INDICTED IN ALLEGED REFLECTING POOL VANDALISM
President Donald Trump is touting the algae cleanup and the prosecution of vandals from the Lincoln Reflecting pool with the water proving clear and refective in this July 3 photo. (Finn Gomez/Getty Images)
«The advanced nanobubbler technology very effectively killed the algae that has plagued every Lincoln Reflecting Pool reopening — most infamously Obama’s reopening — since 1922,» Dei Gratia Minerals founder Greg Wischer, Interior’s deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management, wrote in a letter shared with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Trump.
«The Reflecting Pool water is crystal clear, and our National Park Service team is now vacuuming up the dead algae resting on the bottom of some parts of the Reflecting Pool — just like the destroyed Iranian Navy resting on the bottom of the Persian Gulf.»
The photos shared by Trump show the Reflecting Pool stretching toward the Washington Monument under blue skies. One image appears to show the pool from the Lincoln Memorial end, while a second closer view shows the Washington Monument reflected in the water.
Trump also shared a U.S. Interior Press social media post hailing the technological success, quoting that Wischer memo.
YOSEMITE, GRAND CANYON LEAD NOTABLE LIST OF NATIONAL PARK CAMPGROUNDS FOR AMERICA’S 250TH
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 03: Pete Folch carries an American flag during a morning run past the Reflecting Pool as the city prepares for July 4th festivities on July 03, 2026, in Washington, DC. A fireworks show will begin around 10:30 p.m on July 4th as the city deals with extreme heat warnings. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
«The vacuuming is the final maintenance step after refilling the pool, and it will be complete in a few days,» his memo continued. «Already, the section of the Reflecting Pool closest to the Lincoln Memorial has been vacuumed up, and the beautiful American Flag Blue coating on the bottom of the pool can be seen clearly.»
Trump’s Interior Department has praised the technology for overcoming past challenges on keeping the pool clear, including dunking on former President Barack Obama.
«Previous administrations — most notably under Obama — failed to maintain the Reflecting Pool, and after refilling the pool, the water would quickly become murky and thick with massive clumps of algae floating on the surface,» the memo concluded.
INTERNAL EMAILS EXPOSE HOW JULY 4TH BASH IS BEING DERAILED BY DEM-RUN COUNTY: ‘OFFENSIVE’
Police said the incident happened on Friday at around 3:36 p.m. at the Reflecting Pool on the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial in the nation’s capital. (U.S. Park Police)
«The photos below show how the nanobubbler technology and vacuuming have been incredibly effective, making the water crystal clear with the American Flag Blue coating shining brightly on the bottom of the pool.
«As our National Park Service team noted, the Reflecting Pool is now so ‘blue’ that the Fake News Media, which has been staked out at the Reflecting Pool for weeks, has fled!»
The 6.75 million-gallon pool has been targeted by Trump critics and leftist anti-Trump activists for attacks both verbally and physical, Burgum discussed with ABC’s «This Week» on Sunday.
«The Reflecting Pool has been a big success,» he said. «And we’ve got 340 million people in this country that are celebrating 250. We did have a few vandals, but all that’s going to be repairable, and that’ll all be fixed in the coming weeks as we go forward.»
People look out at the Reflecting Pool and Washington Monument from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial ahead of July 4 festivities on July 03, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Burgum now believes that the pool might not require a full draining after its «multiple gashes that add up to 350 feet,» he added.
«We don’t know if we need to drain the whole thing or not because, you know, the cutting happened on the edge, and, of course, it slopes from the edge,» according to Burgum.
«We may be able to partially drain it and do the repair. To be able to fix it, we may not have to drain the whole thing, but it could go very quickly.»
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While the media and Trump critics are pointing to added costs of the reflecting pool refurbishment, Burgum pointed to the vandalism causing that.
«We weren’t expecting that we were going to have a small group of people that wanted to try to destroy effectively what is part of the Lincoln Memorial,» Burgum told ABC. «There’s plenty of cameras around the Lincoln statue and around the memorial, but the Reflecting Pool had gone for, you know, decades without vandalism.»
washington dc, donald trump, white house, lincoln, cabinet
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