Foreign delegations arrive in Tehran as Khamenei funeral gets underway
Delegations from numerous countries arrived in Tehran on Friday for the funeral of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei
TEHRAN (AA) — Delegations from numerous countries arrived in Tehran on Friday for the funeral of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as state broadcaster IRIB aired live footage of the ceremonies getting underway.
Khamenei was killed on Feb. 28 in a joint US-Israeli strike on Iran, an attack that ignited weeks of war and pushed tensions across the region to new heights.
According to IRIB, senior figures arriving in the capital included Iraqi President Nizar Amidi, Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi and his delegation, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, Uzbek Parliament Speaker Nuriddin Ismoilov, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, and an Omani delegation.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also arrived to lead his country’s official delegation to the funeral, his office said.
Iranian media additionally reported the arrival of delegations of Palestinian religious scholars, Russian clerics, Turkish and Lebanese political parties, Indian representatives, and Thai Shia groups, all attending to pay their respects.
Separately, Bulgarian Republican Party representatives and lawmakers attended memorial events for the late Iranian leader, Iranian media said. Members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah also held their own farewell ceremony in his honor.
More foreign delegations were expected to arrive throughout the day, with memorial events set to continue over the coming days.
Funeral schedule
An official memorial ceremony, attended by heads of state, senior officials and religious leaders, was held Friday. Farewell ceremonies continue in Tehran on July 4 and 5, followed by the main funeral procession through the capital on July 6.
The rites then move to the holy city of Qom on July 7. On July 8, ceremonies are set for Iraq — in Baghdad, Najaf and Karbala — where religious and political figures will receive the body before it is taken to major Shia shrines.
The final funeral and burial will take place July 9 at the Imam Ali Reza Shrine in Mashhad, one of Shia Islam’s holiest sites.
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