Teary-eyed Iran officials at slain leader's funeral; foreign dignitaries pay tributes | Highlights

Khamenei funeral LIVE: Union minister Pabitra Margherita and Bihar Governor Syed Ata Hasnain attended the funeral ceremony of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday and paid their respects on behalf of the government and the people of India.

Khamenei, who ruled Iran for last three decades, was killed on February 28, the first day of massive US and Israeli air strikes on Tehran.

"Hon'ble @GovernorBihar and I represented India at the funeral ceremony for Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, former Supreme Leader of Iran, in Tehran. Conveyed our respects on behalf of the Government and the people of India. @PMOIndia @MEAIndia," Minister of State for External Affairs Margherita posted on X and also shared some photos the ceremony.

The Bihar Lok Bhawan in a post on X said the governor also extended deepest condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives in the recent conflict in West Asia.

"Represented India at the funeral ceremony of His Eminence Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in Tehran today, along with MoS External Affairs @PmargheritaBJP. Also extended deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the recent conflict. @MEAIndia @atahasnain53," the governor's office posted.

Khamenei funeral LIVE: Top Iranian officials on Friday paid their final respects to the country's slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei at the start of a week of funeral ceremonies, with allies and mourners converging on Tehran where his body is lying in state.

Authorities expect public mourning and grand processions to attract millions before Khamenei's burial next week, four months after he was killed aged 86 at his compound in the opening US-Israeli salvo of the Middle East war.

AFP images showed mourners carrying his coffin aloft at the vast Grand Mosalla religious complex in the Iranian capital, with the casket draped in the colours of the Islamic republic that he led for more than three decades.

State TV broadcast footage of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian paying his respects at Khamenei's coffin on Friday afternoon, alongside parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Ahmad Vahidi, head of the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the military, also made his first appearance since the start of the war in February.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country has been mediating between Iran and the US to end the Middle East war, Russian ex-president Dmitry Medvedev and the foreign minister of Afghanistan's Taliban government also paid their respects.

Delegations from Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah joined the mourning, a day before a public ceremony was set to begin.

Representatives from around 30 countries are expected to attend the funeral, with other allies including China and Iran's neighbours in the Caucasus region saying they would be sending representatives.

via AFP

Khamenei funeral LIVE: A high-level delegation from Pakistan led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday paid tributes to Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in US-Israeli strikes in February, in Tehran.

Sharif, Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, Deputy PM & Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and other senior officials attended the funeral of Ayatollah Khamenei.

Sharif recalled the contributions of the late supreme leader for Islam and "paid rich tribute" to Ayatollah Khamenei, who guided the Iranian nation for decades, with remarkable wisdom and sagacity, his office said in a statement.

He expressed full solidarity with the new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, President Masoud Pezeshkian and the people of Iran in this moment of "national grief," it added.

After attending the ceremony, PM Sharif, who had arrived in Tehran earlier today, left for Istanbul for his official visit to Turkiye.

Khamenei funeral LIVE: Organisers have said the Grand Mosallah will host Khamenei's mortal remains for three days to allow mourners and pilgrims to pay their respects, starting Friday.

A funeral procession is scheduled to move through the streets of Tehran on Monday before heading to the holy city of Qom on Tuesday.

Khamenei is set to be buried on July 9 in Mashhad, the northeastern city where he was born and one of Iran's most important Shia pilgrimage centres. The funeral procession will also move through Iraq's Najaf and Karbala cities.

Khamenei funeral LIVE: Chairman of Hamas leadership council Mohammad Ismail Darwish attended late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's funeral where paid tributes to the slain leader.

Khamenei funeral LIVE: Iran did not officially say anything on where and how Khamenei's mortal remains were kept during these months. But an Iranian official said that “the bodies were protected with utmost respect and in compliance with religious and legal standards."

“The bodies have been preserved with the utmost respect and care, in accordance with Islamic and legal standards. They have neither been buried nor placed in safekeeping (as a trust) anywhere,” Iman Attarzadeh, spokesperson for the Special Headquarters for the Funeral and Burial of Ali Khamenei, was quoted as saying by Euro News.

While Islamic rule calls for immediate burial, experts say that Khamenei's dead body may have been kept in a cold storage.

"The mechanism is almost certainly refrigerated cold storage, not embalming, as Islam bars chemical embalming," counterterrorism expert Dr Omar Mohammed was quoted as saying by Fox News Digital.

"Shia law allows delayed burial and preservation by cold in exceptional cases, and a clerical exemption for a Supreme Leader is easy to get," he said further.

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Khamenei funeral LIVE Khamenei's flag-draped coffin sat at Tehran's Grand Mosalla alongside family members killed in the Israeli airstrike that came in the first moments of the war on Feb. 28.

The dead being honored include a son-in-law, his eldest daughter, a 14-month-old granddaughter and the wife of Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the previous leader who remains in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the attack.

Khamenei funeral LIVE: Iran did not officially say anything on where and how Khamenei's mortal remains were kept during these months. But an Iranian official said that “the bodies were protected with utmost respect and in compliance with religious and legal standards."

“The bodies have been preserved with the utmost respect and care, in accordance with Islamic and legal standards. They have neither been buried nor placed in safekeeping (as a trust) anywhere,” Iman Attarzadeh, spokesperson for the Special Headquarters for the Funeral and Burial of Ali Khamenei, was quoted as saying by Euro News.

Khamenei funeral LIVE: Khamenei's funeral was delayed multiple times, mostly on account of security and safety issues created by the Iran-US war which ended after an interim peace deal signed last month.

Khamenei funeral LIVE: Afghanistan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi pays respect to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at funeral ceremony in Tehran. Dignitaries from around 100 countries were invited for the slain Iranian leader's funeral.

Khamenei funeral LIVE: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif paid his respects at the coffin of late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei on Friday, state TV footage showed.

Sharif, whose country has been mediating US-Iran talks to permanently end their conflict, was accompanied by army chief Asim Munir and a delegation as they visited the coffin.

via AFP

Khamenei funeral LIVE: Over a hundred days have passed since Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in US-Israel strikes on Tehran on February 28. He will be buried on July 9 in Mashhad and questions have risen on what caused the delay and how was the body preserved. According to reports, Khamenei's body was most probably kept in an old storage as Islam discourages chemical embalming. "The mechanism is almost certainly refrigerated cold storage, not embalming, as Islam bars chemical embalming," counterterrorism expert Dr. Omar Mohammed was quoted as saying by Fox News Digital.

Khamenei funeral LIVE: Iranian leaders began paying their respects on Friday before the coffin of the country's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, killed in the US-Israeli strikes that triggered the Middle East war, as Tehran prepared for a vast funeral.

AFP photographs showed mourners carrying Khamenei's coffin, emblazoned with Iran's tricolour flag, into the Grand Mosalla, one of the Islamic republic's most important ceremonial venues.

Others showed crowds at a pre-funeral ceremony clad in black, as the coffin was set down against a backdrop of red flowers and white butterflies hanging in the air.

State TV broadcast footage of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian paying his respects on Friday afternoon alongside parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Ahmad Vahidi, head of the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the military, also appeared, making his first appearance since the start of the war in February.

via AFP

Khamenei funeral LIVE: As foreign dignitaries joind Iranian leadership in Tehran for slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's funeral, many Iranians have skipped the event. Some fear for their safety, while others simply don not want to attend the ceremony, which they described as lavish, while the Iranian economy suffers, AFP reported.

In the capital Tehran, residents reported fewer people than usual were out and about, with shops closed and roads leading out of the city packed, suggesting many did not want to take part in the ceremonies. “My concern is that poor organisation could put people's lives at risk. I also worry about the possibility of violence or a terrorist attack intended to gain international attention. When those kinds of tragic things happen, the authorities quickly blame foreign actors like Israel, or the opposition, before the facts are clearly established. I just hope everyone who attends returns home safely,” Effat, a 67-year-old housewife in the northeast city of Mashhad, was quoted as saying.

Khamenei funeral LIVE: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif , accompanied by a envoys, arrived in Tehran on Friday for Ayatollah Khamenei's funeral ceremony. He was received by Iran's minister Eskandar Momeni.

Khamenei funeral LIVE: Mojtaba Khamenei, son of slain leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has not been seen at the funeral where top Iran leaders have gathered for the funeral ceremony. Mojtaba, who took charge as Iran's Supreme Leader following his father's death, hasn't made a public appearance since the war broke out. Some reports said that he suffered serious injuries in the missile strikes that killed several of his family members, including his wife and sister.

Khamenei funeral LIVE: A team of Indian dignitaries, including former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid, who heads the party's foreign affairs department, paid tributes to Iran's former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday in Tehran. Khamenei was killed in the United States and Israeli strikes during the opening day of the war. His funeral ceremonies will begin over the weekend in Tehran, followed by large processions next week in Qom and Mashhad, as well as memorial events in Iraq. Read full report

Khamenei funeral LIVE: Visuals shared by Iranian state media showed top leadrs of Iran, icluding President Masoud Pezeshkia, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament speaker Bagher Mohammed Ghalibaf, at the funeral ceremony of Khamenei at Tehran's Grand Mosallah.

Khamenei funeral LIVE: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed on February 28, they very first day of the Iran-US war that lasted for weeks. Burials are meant to be conducted within a day of death in Islam, but because of the risks of holding a big funeral during the war it was postponed until after last month's interim truce deal was agreed.

Khamenei funeral LIVE: The body of Iran's slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was lying in state in a vast hall in Tehran on Friday as clerics, officials, foreign dignitaries and other mourners paid their respects after his 37-year rule.

Killed alongside Khamenei, and displayed in coffins next to his, were his daughter, son-in-law and baby granddaughter, as well as the wife ​of his son ⁠Mojtaba — a conscious echo of the deaths of Hossein's family and companions. His granddaughter's framed photograph has also been put up alongside her coffin, smaller than the rest.

Khamenei funeral LIVE: A team of Indian dignitaries, including former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid, who heads the party's foreign affairs department, paid tributes to Iran's former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday in Tehran. Khamenei was killed in the United States and Israeli strikes during the opening day of the war. His funeral ceremonies will begin over the weekend in Tehran, followed by large processions next week in Qom and Mashhad, as well as memorial events in Iraq. Follow live updates related to Khamenei's funeral here.

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Khamenei funeral LIVE: Pakistan army chief Asim Munir also arrived in Tehran to attend slain Iran leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's funeral, Iran's Tasnim News Agency reported. Dignitaries from around 100 countries have been invited for the leader's funeral in Tehran.

Khamenei funeral LIVE:Following the ceremonies in Tehran, Khamenei's body will be taken to the Iraqi holy cities of Najaf and Karbala before his burial on July 9 at the shrine of Imam Reza in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad, his birthplace.

It remains unknown if Khamenei's son and successor Mojtaba, who has not been seen in public since becoming supreme leader, will be present at the main ceremony in Tehran.

Khamenei funeral LIVE: The ceremonies are expected to draw between 15 and 20 million mourners, according to officials, which would make it the biggest state funeral in the country's history.

Ghalibaf called it "one of the most significant moments" in Iran's history.

Tehran, as well as the holy cities of Qom and Mashhad, which will host later stages of the funeral and the burial ceremonies, will observe public holidays while the events are underway.

Authorities have ordered public and private offices in Tehran to close from Saturday through Monday, while traffic restrictions will make much of the city centre inaccessible to private vehicles.

The airspace over Tehran will be partially closed from Friday and fully closed on Monday.

via AFP