Tehran/New Delhi: Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian has formally invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the multi-day state funeral and burial services of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, former supreme leader of the Islamic Republic.
Khamenei was killed on February 28, the first day of US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran. Following his death, India’s foreign secretary Vikram Misri visited the Iranian embassy in New Delhi to sign the condolence book on behalf of the Indian government.
The leader’s funeral has been delayed by over four months due to the Middle East conflict. The rituals will begin on July 4, now that a 60-day peace deal has been signed between the US and Iran.
It is still not known who will represent India at the funeral services.
India has always condoled the deaths of leaders and condemned their targeted killings. After the demise of Iran’s former president Ebrahim Raisi in May 2024 in a helicopter crash, New Delhi had declared a day of national mourning, lowering
flags to half-mast.
India had sent the then Indian Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar to lead the Indian delegation in Tehran.
The services that will begin on July 4, will witness Khamenei’s body lying in state at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla complex. Public processions are planned in Tehran and Qom, followed by prayers in Iraq’s holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, before the burial on July 9 at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Khamenei’s hometown, as reported by WION.
Millions of mourners are expected to take to the streets to bid farewell to a leader who shaped Iran for nearly four decades.
Ties between India and Iran run long. New Delhi sees Iran as part of its extended neighbourhood, a country with which it has civilizational ties. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and external affairs minister S Jaishankar have engaged in multiple rounds of talks with Iranian counterparts during the 40-day conflict in West Asia.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi also visited New Delhi to attend the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting, holding bilateral talks with his Indian counterpart Jaishankar. During the visit, Araghchi met PM Modi as well. Senior Iranian officials have made multiple trips to India in recent months, especially to attend BRICS meetings hosted by Delhi.
According to the report, invitations have been extended to several countries, with a strong emphasis on neighbours. Several countries have confirmed participation or expressed intent to send representatives, according to Iranian state media.
Delegations are expected from Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, Russia, China, and several Central Asian states.