New Delhi
Iran has invited the top leadership of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and main opposition Congress party and several lawmakers to the funeral programme of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
The invitations were despatched by the Iranian ambassador’s office to BJP national president Nitin Nabin, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Salman Khurshid, a former external affairs minister who heads the party’s foreign affairs department, the people said on condition of anonymity.
There was no formal word on the level of the BJP’s participation in the main event of the funeral programme to be held in Tehran on July 4. The people said the Congress party has nominated Khurshid to attend the event as Kharge will be unable to participate.
Minister of state for external affairs Pabitra Margherita and the Governor of Bihar, Lt Gen (retired) Syed Ata Hasnain, are expected to represent India at the funeral programme.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had last week invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the funeral programme, a six-day event spanning three Iranian cities. The Indian side is yet to make an official announcement on its participation, though it is unlikely that the PM will take part in the event.
The people said several other Indian political leaders and lawmakers had also been invited for the funeral programme, including People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.
{{/usCountry}}The people said several other Indian political leaders and lawmakers had also been invited for the funeral programme, including People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.
{{/usCountry}}Among others who have been invited by the Iranian side are Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi and Mohmad Haneefa Jan, both prominent MPs from Kashmir and Ladakh, and lawmakers Imran Masood and Afzal Ansari, both from Uttar Pradesh.
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 died in an airstrike on the compound in Tehran housing his office.
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.