BY Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – The Indian delegation on Friday attended the funeral of late Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran and paid tribute in Tehran, media reported.
Khamenei, who ruled Iran for over 3 decades, was killed in a US-Israeli airstrike on Tehran on February 28.
The Indian delegation included Bihar Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain and Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita, MEA stated in a press release.
Iran sent invitation for the funeral to the ruling BJP and Congress party.
Congress was represented by former EAM Salman Khurshid and Pawan Khera, while the delegation also included former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and President of Jammu and Kashmir Anjuman-e-Sharie Shian, Aga Syed Hassan Mosavi Al Safavi among others.
The mourners in black are holding a dayslong funeral and burial for Ali Khamenei.
The mourning period is witnessing Khamenei’s body being carried through cities in both Iran and neighboring Iraq.
According to media reports Khamenei’s body will be at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla on Saturday and Sunday.
It will be paraded through the streets of Tehran on Monday and then taken to the Shiite seminary city of Qom, some 120kms to the south.
Khamenei is being honoured there on Tuersday.
On Wednesday, Khamenei’s body will be taken to Karbala, Iraq, home to the shrine of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran expected guests from around 100 countries, including heads of government, parliamentary speakers, foreign ministers, special envoys and political delegations.
Other attendees include Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and He Wei, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress.
Senior officials from the Taliban administration in Afghanistan, including the Deputy Prime Minister and the Acting Foreign Minister, are also expected to participate, as per media reports.
