Tehran, Iran, 03 July 2024

Official delegations and senior leaders from across the region and beyond arrived in Tehran on Friday to attend the funeral ceremonies of Iran’s former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a joint US-Israeli attack on February 28. The funeral has drawn widespread international participation, reflecting Khamenei’s influence in the region and Iran’s diplomatic ties.

Iranian state television (IRIB) broadcast live coverage of the ceremonies, which began at Imam Khomeini Musalla Mosque in Tehran. Among the foreign dignitaries attending were Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif; Iraqi President Nizar Amidi; Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan; Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Naqvi, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Chairman Senate Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah; Shura Council Speaker of State of Qatar, Hassan bin Abdullah Al Ghanim; Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, Uzbek Parliament Speaker Nuriddin Ismoilov, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Secretary-General Nurlan Yermekbayev;Sohail Mahmood, Secretary-General of the Developing Eight (D-8) Organization for Economic Cooperation; Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian President’s Special Envoy;and an official delegation from Oman.

Delegations representing Palestinian religious scholars, Russian clerics, Turkish and Lebanese political parties, Indian representatives, Thai Shia Muslim groups, and members of the Bulgarian Republican Party also participated in the memorial events. Lebanon’s Hezbollah separately organized a farewell ceremony in tribute to Khamenei.

According to the announced schedule, official memorial events will continue in Tehran through July 5, followed by the main funeral procession on July 6. The ceremonies will then move to the holy city of Qom on July 7 before continuing in Iraq on July 8 with events in Baghdad, Najaf, and Karbala. The final burial ceremony is scheduled for July 9 at the Imam Ali Reza Shrine in Mashhad.

Pakistan Expresses Solidarity with Iran

During the ceremony, the prime minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan paid tribute to Khamenei’s decades of leadership, describing him as a guiding figure for the Iranian nation. He conveyed condolences and expressed solidarity with Iran’s leadership, including Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, President Pezeshkian, and the Iranian people. Sharif also recorded his message in the official condolence book.

Sharif Continues Türkiye Visit

Following the funeral, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif departed Tehran for an official visit to Türkiye. In Istanbul, he is scheduled to hold talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on bilateral relations, with discussions expected to focus on trade, investment, regional peace, and security. Sharif will also address a business conference to promote Pakistan’s investment opportunities in Special Economic Zones, energy, information technology, privatization, and other key sectors.