List of guests who will attend the funeral of Ayatollah Khamenei
Iran on Friday begins a week of funeral ceremonies for former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a joint US-Israeli raid in February. The ceremony will move from Tehran to Qom, then to Najaf in Iraq, before concluding with his burial in his hometown of Mashhad next Thursday.
The Iranian authorities are preparing to receive an estimated 10 million mourners in the four cities.The foreign guest list is shaped along sharp geopolitical lines. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has confirmed that he will attend, making him the most prominent foreign leader to do so. Tajik President Emomali Rahmon is also expected to take over as head of state. Iran’s Deputy Interior Minister confirmed that European Union leaders “will not be honored” to attend, pointing out their failure to condemn the strike that killed Khamenei.
The United States, United Kingdom, Israel, Canada and Australia were not invited.Russia, China and India – all at the personal invitation of President Masoud Pezeshkian – chose to downgrade their credit rating. Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping will not attend in person; Beijing is sending a senior member of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, and Moscow is expected to send a Security Council official. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused, citing a previously scheduled visit to Indonesia; New Delhi will be represented by Minister of State Babitra Margaretha and Governor of Bihar Arif Muhammad Khan.
Congress leader and former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid is also said to be attending. High-level delegations are expected to come from Iraq, Qatar, Lebanon, Syria, Venezuela, Belarus, North Korea and several Central Asian countries. Representatives of Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Houthis, and Iraqi Shiite militias are also expected to participate in the conference.Iranian officials did not confirm Mojtaba Khamenei’s attendance. Since the February raid that killed and injured his father, Mujtaba has not been seen or photographed in public.
The regime insists that the younger Khamenei is alive and hiding for his safety, but Western intelligence officials cast serious doubts on this claim, with fears that Tehran may be concealing death or complete incapacitation. His absence – or appearance – at the funeral will be the most watched moment of the week.The funeral also comes amid ongoing regime threats of retaliation. Major General Ali Abdullah, commander of the Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters, issued a new warning on Thursday.
“Our enemies must think carefully about the response of our armed forces to any threat or aggression directed against our lands,” he said. He added: “We warn our enemies, especially America and the Zionist entity, not to fall into any miscalculations.
“One analyst cited by Fox News said: “For a regime that claims to lead a front stretching from Beirut to Sanaa, the regional turnout for the funeral of its founder and successor is an isolation shown through pomp.He added: “For Washington, it is useful reading: the war has made the Tehran axis smaller and more regional than what the regime declares.”