Official delegations from several countries arrived in Tehran on Friday to attend the funeral ceremonies for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as the country began a series of memorial events that will continue through next week.
Khamenei was killed on February 28 during a joint US-Israeli military strike on Iran, an attack that sparked weeks of conflict and heightened tensions across the region.
Among those arriving in the Iranian capital were Iraqi President Nizar Amidi, Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammed Al-Halbousi, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Uzbek Parliament Speaker Nuriddin Ismoilov, according to Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also travelled to Tehran with an official delegation, his office said.
Iranian media reported that additional delegations representing Palestinian religious scholars, Russian clerics, Turkish and Lebanese political parties, Indian representatives and Thai Muslim groups also arrived to take part in the ceremonies. Representatives of Bulgaria’s Republican Party and members of parliament attended memorial events, while Lebanon’s Hezbollah held a separate tribute for Khamenei.
More international delegations are expected to arrive in Tehran in the coming days as commemorations continue.
Under the official schedule, a memorial ceremony involving heads of state, senior officials and religious leaders will be held on Friday. Farewell ceremonies are planned in Tehran on July 4 and 5, followed by the main funeral procession in the capital on July 6.
The funeral will then move to the holy city of Qom on July 7 before ceremonies take place in Baghdad, Najaf and Karbala on July 8. Khamenei is scheduled to be buried in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad on July 9.
