Tens of thousands of people took to the streets for former Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s funeral procession in Tehran. They chanted against the United States and Israel, carrying portraits of the killed supreme leader, and calling for vengeance against President Donald Trump.

Still, big crowds under authoritarian regimes should never be confused with popular support for said regimes. The Islamic Republic has spent decades using public gatherings to manufacture the image of national unity. Funerals, anniversary marches, and anti-American rallies do bring out genuine loyalists, but they largely mobilize the state’s patronage networks: civil servants, students, religious institutions, security-linked families, provincial officials, and rent seekers whose access to jobs, financial stability, or protection depends on staying close to power. In such a system, showing up can be an act of belief, but more likely calculation or self-preservation.