TEHRAN, July 01 — Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Tuesday that a large number of officials from both regional and non-regional countries have voiced readiness to attend the funeral ceremonies of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Speaking at a weekly press conference in Tehran, Baghaei described the ceremonies as the “most important event” in the coming days in Iran, the West Asia region, and beyond.
He said that all neighboring countries will send representatives, and that Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi’s recent visit to Iraq was partly aimed at coordinating the ceremonies there.
Ali Akbar Pourjamshidian, Iran’s deputy interior minister and head of the funeral organizing headquarters, said at a press conference on Tuesday that more than 30 countries and religious leaders from over 90 countries have voiced their readiness to attend the funeral ceramonies.
Pourjamshidian noted that a ceremony will be held in Tehran on Friday with the presence of foreign leaders, officials, and religious figures to pay tribute to the late leader.
He said that farewell ceremonies in Tehran will begin at Imam Khomeini’s Mosalla prayer hall on Saturday morning and continue through Sunday. A funeral procession is scheduled for Monday, expected to draw large crowds from Iran and other regional states.
On July 7, there will be a ceremony in Iran’s central city of Qom, and on July 8, the leader’s body will be transferred to Iraq for further rites. He will be laid to rest in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad on July 9, according to Pourjamshidian.
Ali Khamenei was killed in a U.S. and Israeli strike in Tehran on Feb. 28. His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, was selected as Iran’s new supreme leader by the Assembly of Experts in March. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
