Iran: the funeral of Ayatollah Khamanei
From Our Own Correspondent
BBC
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 11 July 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS
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Summary
Kate Adie presents stories on the burial of Ayatollah Khamanei in Iran, a diplomatic correspondent's return to Moscow, a pioneering therapy centre in Ukraine's West, Italian lessons in Argentina and the restoration of the Casbah in Algiers.
The streets of major cities across Iran have been lined with mourners attending the funeral procession of former leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamanei. But as the coffin was transported between cities, renewed attacks on tankers in the strait of Hormuz threw the region into more turmoil, prompting a heavy US response. Lyse Doucet has been in Tehran.
Ukraine has been escalating its attacks deeper into Russian territory on refineries and ports. Plumes of black smoke stretching across the Moscow skyline have brought the war with Ukraine closer to home for everyday Russians. James Landale has been back to the Russian capital.
Meanwhile Russia has launched devastating attacks across Ukraine and in Kyiv's centre killing dozens of civilians. And hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers are living with the physical and psychological scars of war. Lucy Ash has been to a pioneering psychological retreat.
Two-thirds of Argentina's population can trace their roots back to Italy. Their ancestors arrived during the 19th and 20th century when Argentina was one of the fastest growing countries in the world. But, as the economy stutters, Italian Argentines are increasingly returning home to Europe, finds Jane Chambers
In Algiers, the ancient ‘Casbah’ – the historic citadel and medina - has been the focus of multiple forsaken plans for its regeneration. But now, at last, a restoration is gathering pace, says Philip Sweeney.
Series Producer: Serena Tarling Production coordinators: Gemma Ashman & Sophie Hill Editor: Richard Vadon
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.5 | Hello, today our diplomatic correspondent returns to Moscow after several years' hiatus. |
| 0:12.5 | Are there signs the war's impact is finally cutting through? |
| 0:16.2 | We meet some of the Ukrainian soldiers dealing with the hidden scars of the battlefield and the therapists working with them. |
| 0:24.1 | Italian lessons are all the rage in Argentina, with descendants of those who first emigrated, now planning a return to Italy. |
| 0:32.2 | We hear why. |
| 0:33.7 | And finally, we're in Algeria, where the Casbah, a site with a rich history but crumbling structures, is undergoing a restoration. |
| 0:42.5 | But first to Iran, where the streets of Tehran and major cities across the country have been lined with mourners attending the funeral procession of the former leader Ayatollah Khamenei. |
| 0:54.0 | The Supreme Leader's final burial took place |
| 0:56.7 | in the holy Iranian city of Mashad. But as huge crowds of supporters were gathered, renewed attacks |
| 1:02.9 | on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz through the region into more turmoil, prompting a heavy |
| 1:08.7 | US response. The preliminary truce was intended to reopen |
| 1:12.9 | the Strait of Hormuz and allow longer negotiations toward permanently ending the war. Both goals |
| 1:19.6 | are now in question. Lys Doucette has been in Tehran. I remember it as if it was yesterday. |
| 1:26.7 | It was June 1989, at Tehran's Lale Hotel, once part of the American luxury intercontinental chain. Then it was famous for the US flag painted on the floor inside the front door. It meant you had to walk across it and insult the stars and stripes of America. |
| 1:45.1 | It was my first trip to Tehran. |
| 1:47.6 | An Iranian journalist sitting with me in the lobby offered an insight into her country. |
| 1:52.0 | We swing from one extreme to the other, she explained. |
| 1:54.4 | In 1979, we went from the rule of the extremely pro-Western Shah |
| 1:59.5 | to the extremely conservative Islamic |
| 2:02.1 | Republic. One day she confidently assessed, we will find the middle. I listened carefully. We were |
| 2:09.1 | meeting at an historic turning point. Iran had just buried its revolution's founding leader, |
... |
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