Foreign delegations gather in Tehran today.
Modern.az reminds that an international ceremony will be held on February 28 for the farewell ceremony of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed.
Khamenei's funeral will be held from July 4 to 8 in several cities in Iran and Iraq, where the holiest Shia shrines are located, and the funeral will take place on July 9 in his hometown of Mashhad.
Iran's Deputy Interior Minister and head of the funeral ceremony, Ali Akbar Purjamshidian, announced that the ceremony will begin today in Tehran with the participation of foreign leaders, officials, and clerics. The ceremony will be held at the Mosallah Mosque, named after the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The mosque is where state mourning ceremonies are held.
Tehran claims that delegations from more than 30 countries and more than 90 religious figures have expressed their desire to participate in the event.
Azerbaijan will be represented at the farewell ceremony by a delegation including the Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova, Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev, Head of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic Jabbar Musayev, and other officials.
Iraqi President Nizar Amidi and Prime Minister Ali al-Zeidi will attend the funeral ceremonies. Mourning events will also be held in Iraq. Khamenei's p will be taken to the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala for one day, on June 8.
Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan have also confirmed their participation in the ceremony in Iran. "Yes, I will go tomorrow and return tomorrow. Of course, contacts with the Iranian leadership are planned," Pashinyan himself said a day earlier.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif from Pakistan, who served as the main mediator between Tehran and Washington, is going to Tehran.
According to Fox News, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian personally invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but New Delhi "will send a low-level delegation." According to Iranian media, the delegation will include Deputy Foreign Minister Pabitra Margarita and Bihar Governor Syed Ata Hasnain.
China will be represented by He Wei, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (Vice Speaker of the Parliament of the People's Republic of China).
Delegations from Qatar, Lebanon, Syria, Venezuela, Belarus, and North Korea, as well as representatives of Hamas, Hezbollah, Yemeni Houthis, and Iraqi Shia groups, are expected to attend in Tehran.
Russia will be represented at the ceremony in Tehran by Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, and this has been officially confirmed by his secretariat and the Kremlin.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Bagayi announced that countries supporting military operations against Tehran were not invited to the funeral.
He said that European Union leaders would not "achieve the honor" of attending the event because they did not condemn the attack that led to Khamenei's death. The United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia were also not invited.
Meanwhile, a high-ranking Iranian military official, Major General Ali Abdollahi, commander of the Central Headquarters of the Iranian police forces, warned Americans and Israelis not to attack the funeral ceremonies, threatening them with "harsh responses from the sons of the Iranian nation."
