On July 5, 2026 (Day 129 of the Iran-Israel-US war, Operation Epic Fury / Sunday), the funeral’s second day delivered the week’s defining image — and its defining absence. THE PRAYER: at the dawn funeral prayer in the Grand Mosalla’s vast courtyard, state television showed three of Ali Khamenei’s sons — Mostafa, Meysam and Masoud, none of them seen in public since the war began — praying behind the flag-draped coffins of their father, their sister, her husband, their brother’s wife and a 14-month-old niece. The fourth son, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, did not come. THE REFUSAL: The New York Times, citing two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sources, revealed that Mojtaba has asked to attend Thursday’s burial in Mashhad and perform the funeral rites for his father — and has so far been refused by officials who fear Israel would target him, after Defense Minister Katz’s “marked for death” threat. The new leader’s absence — he skipped even his own wife’s memorial on Wednesday — is fueling infighting among conservatives, the Times reported. And for the first time there is a concrete account of his condition: people close to his inner circle told Reuters his face was disfigured and he suffered significant injury to one or both legs in the February 28 strike. A theocracy built on the leader’s person now has a leader who may be physically unveilable — and whose own praetorians overrule him. THE WARNING: the Times also revealed that the United States indirectly warned Iran during the Doha talks that Israel might try to kill its top negotiators — Washington passing threat intelligence about its own ally’s intentions toward the men across the table, an extraordinary glimpse of the US managing Israel’s kill lists as a diplomatic liability. THE DECLARATION: Iran ended the toll ambiguity flatly, saying it will “definitely” charge fees for Strait of Hormuz transit — with “special treatment” possible for friendly nations — and warned the UK and France over the waterway, converting the mid-August question from whether to how much, for whom. THE STRAIT ANSWERED: a day after eight ships U-turned, a five-vessel convoy — led by the Liberia-flagged laden crude tanker Hafeet, with three LPG and LNG carriers and a container ship — threaded the Omani-coast route, the latest tentative sign of recovering traffic; maritime authorities call flows steady but not increasing, and strait security lands on this week’s NATO summit agenda. THE STAGE: an emcee called for President Trump’s death before hundreds of thousands — the first direct call from the funeral stage, atop posters and graffiti targeting Trump and Netanyahu — the vengeance register escalating even as Tehran negotiates with the man being cursed. THE BOARD: Netanyahu plans to meet Trump in Washington as early as next Monday, setting the post-funeral diplomatic table. THE UNDERTOW: not everyone mourns — Tehran residents told CNN they are “unbothered” by a spectacle the regime “was always going to put on,” and analyst Arash Azizi noted a vocal minority backs the late leader fully while the rest of a 90-million-person country is divided — the turnout referendum has a dissent column the cameras don’t show. THE MACHINE: a national shutdown took hold for Sunday and Monday, businesses, gyms and the Grand Bazaar ordered closed, provincial bus fleets commandeered, mist cannons running against the heat, a black concrete wall by the platform filling with handwritten grief messages — and day two passed without incident. Net assessment: two days down, unmarred; but the succession crisis is now visible inside the funeral itself, the toll fight has gone from deadline to declaration, and Monday’s eleven-kilometer procession to Azadi Square — the largest and most exposed movement of the week, under completely closed airspace — is the day the whole war holds its breath for.