A team of Indian dignitaries, including former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid, who heads the party’s external affairs department, paid tribute to former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday in Tehran.
Khamenei was killed in US and Israeli raids during the first day of the war. His funeral ceremonies will begin over the weekend in Tehran, followed by large processions next week in Qom and Mashhad, as well as memorial events in Iraq. Follow live updates related to Khamenei’s funeral here.
Indian dignitaries praise Khamenei
The Mufti and Khurshid paid their respects to Khamenei on Friday before the funeral and burial ceremony of the former supreme leader. During the mourning period, Khamenei’s body will be transported in funeral processions through the cities of Iran and neighboring Iraq.
Pictures broadcast by local media and shared by the Mufti on Channel X showed her and Khorshid paying tribute.
Pictures shared by the Iranian Embassy in India showed that several religious leaders from India also paid tribute to Khamenei in Tehran.
After their departure, the official Indian government delegation also left New Delhi. Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margarita left his residence in the national capital on Friday morning as India prepares to join other international delegations attending the celebrations in Iran.
Margherita will travel with Bihar Governor Lieutenant General (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain to Iran to attend the funeral ceremony.
Khamenei’s funeral in Iran
On Thursday, workers in Tehran were holding up new posters expressing their support for the country’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei. The posters showed pictures of the late Ali Khamenei along with a revolutionary fist raised behind his successor.
Prominent foreign officials and figures, including representatives from Russia and China, are expected to offer their condolences during the events on Friday.
Khamenei’s body is scheduled to be transported on Saturday to a mosque in Tehran to participate in the first stage of the nationwide funeral procession. The bodies of his daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter will be transferred, along with Mojtaba Khamenei’s wife, all of whom were killed in the same strike.
Hotels offer 50 percent discounts to mourners, while schools, mosques and sports halls are equipped to provide accommodation. Bus and rail services have also been redirected to support funeral arrangements.
After what authorities described as a massive procession through central Tehran on Monday, Khamenei’s body will be transported to the city of Qom, the center of Iran’s Shiite religious establishment, where a funeral service will be held on Tuesday.
The funeral ceremonies will then continue in the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala on Wednesday, and prominent figures from the regional network of Iran’s Shiite allies are expected to attend.
Khamenei is scheduled to be buried on Thursday in Mashhad, near the Imam Reza Shrine, after another funeral procession.
Security measures will remain tight throughout the celebrations. Temporary restrictions have been imposed on the airspace over Tehran and several other cities, while authorities have warned of a strong response if the United States or Israel launches any further attacks.
With input from agencies
