In the wake of the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the former Supreme Leader of Iran, due to U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, leaders and high-ranking officials from Iran's allied nations have begun arriving in Tehran.
On July 3, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council and a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, led a Russian delegation to Tehran, where they paid their respects at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla, where Khamenei's body is lying in state.
According to TASS, Medvedev shook hands and exchanged brief words with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, as well as greeting Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Delegations from Pakistan and Afghanistan, whose relations have recently soured due to military conflicts, also visited the funeral site. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attended with General Asim Munir, Chief of Army Staff. Pakistan has played a mediating role in the ceasefire negotiations between Iran and the U.S.
From Afghanistan, Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban's foreign minister, represented the delegation. Ahmad Massoud, who leads the anti-Taliban front in Afghanistan, also visited the funeral. AFP reported that Massoud's father, Ahmad Shah Massoud, received support from Iran in the 1990s.
Saudi Arabia, which had its oil facilities attacked by Iranian drones during the conflict with the U.S. and Israel, sent Walid Al-Kuraiji, deputy foreign minister, to represent its condolences.
Delegations from the Palestinian militant group Hamas and the Iran-aligned Lebanese group Hezbollah also arrived in Tehran. Muhammad Darwish, chairman of Hamas's Shura Council, attended, along with family members of Hassan Nasrallah, the former Hezbollah leader who died in an Israeli airstrike in 2024.
China sent a delegation led by He Wei, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. AFP reported that around 30 countries are expected to send delegations to Khamenei's funeral.
Khamenei held power as Iran's supreme leader for over 35 years, beginning in 1989. He died at the age of 86 on February 28, the first day of U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran. The ongoing conflict has paused under an initial agreement between the U.S. and Iran.
The funeral venue will open to the public at 6 a.m. on July 4, but hundreds of supporters had already gathered outside the venue the previous evening. One citizen told AFP, "We want to say our final goodbyes to our leader, so waiting here is not painful or difficult for us."
High-ranking Iranian officials were also present at the funeral site. Ahmad Vahidi, who became the head of the Revolutionary Guard after the airstrikes that killed Khamenei's predecessor, attended. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of parliament and chief negotiator in talks with the U.S., was seen weeping as he expressed his condolences.
However, Khamenei's son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, has yet to appear in public. He was named as the supreme leader a week after his father's death but has only issued written statements since then. AFP reported that Mojtaba was also injured in the same airstrikes, though the extent of his injuries remains unconfirmed.
Khamenei's body will remain at the Grand Mosalla until July 7, after which it will be transported through Tehran before being moved to Qom, a center for Shia clerics, on July 8. On July 9, the procession will pass through Shia holy cities in neighboring Iraq before Khamenei is laid to rest in his hometown of Mashhad in northeastern Iran on July 10.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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