Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita and Bihar Governor Lt. Gen. (retd.) Syed Ata Hasnain are expected to represent India at the funeral program of former Iranian Supreme Leader Syed Ali Khamenei, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week to attend the funeral programme, a six-day event spanning three Iranian cities. The Indian side is yet to make an official announcement about the level of participation, although Prime Minister Modi is unlikely to participate in the event.
Margherita and Hassanein, one of the few members of the Shiite community currently holding a constitutional position, are expected to participate in the event to be held in Tehran on July 4 on behalf of the Indian government, the people said on condition of anonymity.
Indian participation in the program will also signal New Delhi’s continued engagement with Tehran at a time when the understanding between Iran and the United States, and ongoing negotiations to resolve the conflict in West Asia, may lead to Washington ending sanctions on Iranian oil and developing the Chabahar port. However, the understanding has come under pressure in the wake of new US and Iranian attacks.
The funeral program will begin with a farewell ceremony in Tehran on July 4-5, and the main funeral procession is scheduled to take place in the Iranian capital on July 6, according to Iranian state-run media. On July 7, a burial ceremony will be held in the holy city of Qom, and the burial is scheduled to take place in Mashhad, Khamenei’s birthplace, on July 9.
Khamenei, 86, was killed on February 28, the first day of the conflict in West Asia sparked by Israel and US attacks on Iran. He was killed in an air strike on the complex housing his office in Tehran.
Iran also invited the leaders of China, Russia, Pakistan and Qatar to attend the funeral programme. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that an official delegation would attend the funeral.
India remained silent about the Israeli-US military strikes that led to Khamenei’s killing until Foreign Minister Vikram Misri visited the Iranian embassy on March 5 to sign the book of condolence on behalf of the government.
At that time, the opposition Congress Party and former military and diplomatic officials criticized the government’s position on the killing of Khamenei and the sinking of an Iranian frigate by an American submarine inside Sri Lanka’s exclusive economic zone as it was leaving the region after participating in the international fleet review and being hosted by India.
In 2024, when Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian were killed in a helicopter crash, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar represented India at their funeral.
