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Iran President invites PM Modi for Khamenei's funeral, Indian side yet to decide
The funeral ceremonies will be held from July 5 to 9. The Indian side is yet to take a call on the invitation.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the funeral programme of former Supreme Leader Seyyed Ali Khamenei, a six-day event spanning three Iranian cities, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
The Indian side is yet to take a call on the level of participation in the event, though a senior leader is expected to represent the country at the main events scheduled to be held in Tehran in early July, the people said on condition of anonymity.
Pezeshkian’s invitation was conveyed by the Iranian embassy to the ministry of external affairs on Tuesday, the people said. People familiar with the Indian government’s thinking said a decision on the level of participation will be taken closer to the event.
The funeral programme will begin with a farewell event in Tehran during July 4-5, and the main funeral procession in the Iranian capital is scheduled for July 6, according to Iran’s state-run media. On July 7, ceremonies will be held in the holy city of Qom, and the burial in Khamenei’s hometown of Mashhad is scheduled for July 9.
Khamenei, 86, was killed on February 28, the first day of the West Asian conflict triggered by Israel and the US’s attacks on Iran. He was killed in an airstrike on the compound in Tehran housing his office.
Besides Modi, the leaders of China, Russia, Pakistan and Qatar have been invited for the funeral programme. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said an official delegation will attend the funeral.
India had maintained silence on the Israel-US military strikes that killed Khamenei till foreign secretary Vikram Misri visited the Iranian embassy on March 5 to sign the condolence book on behalf of the government.
At the time, the opposition Congress party and former military officials and diplomats had criticised the government’s position on the killing of Khamenei and the sinking of an Iranian frigate by a US submarine within Sri Lanka’s exclusive economic zone while it was leaving the region after participating in an international fleet review and a multi-national exercise hosted by India.
The people cited above said there is a precedent of high-level Indian participation in the funeral of Iranian leaders. In 2024, when then Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were killed in a helicopter crash, then vice president Jagdeep Dhankar had represented India at their funeral.
Modi last visited Tehran in May 2016, when he met Khamenei and India finalised a trilateral agreement with Afghanistan and Iran to develop Chabahar port. Modi also met Pezeshkian on the margins of the Brics Summit in Russia in October 2024.
The memorandum of understanding signed by Iran and the US on de-escalation and ongoing negotiations for a resolution of the conflict have opened up the possibility of Washington ending sanctions on Iranian oil and the development of Chabahar port. In these circumstances, the people said, the Indian side will ensure participation in the funeral programme at an appropriate level.
