Foreign leaders arrive in Tehran as Khamenei funeral begins

Official delegations from several countries arrived in the Iranian capital Tehran on Friday to attend funeral ceremonies for former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as Iranian state television aired live footage of the proceedings underway. Khamenei was killed in a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran on Feb. 28, triggering weeks of war and escalating tensions across the region.

Delegations and dignitaries

Among the senior officials arriving in Tehran were Iraqi President Nizar Amidi, Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, Uzbek Parliament Speaker Nuriddin Ismoilov, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Iranian media also reported the arrival of delegations representing Palestinian religious scholars, Russian clerics, Turkish political parties, Lebanese political parties, Indian representatives, and Thai Shia Muslim groups. Representatives of the Bulgarian Republican Party and members of Hezbollah also held memorial events.

Funeral schedule

An official memorial ceremony will be held Friday with heads of state, senior officials, and religious leaders. Farewell ceremonies will continue in Tehran on July 4-5, followed by the main funeral procession on July 6. The rites will move to Qom on July 7, then to Iraq—including Baghdad, Najaf, and Karbala—on July 8. The final burial is scheduled for July 9 at the Imam Ali Reza Shrine in Mashhad, one of Shia Islam’s holiest sites.