PM Shehbaz, CDF Munir pay respects to Iran's assassinated supreme leader Khamenei

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir on Friday paid their respects to Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in a US-Israeli strike on February 28.

Khamenei’s body arrived at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla on Friday ahead of his funeral. Apart from PM Shehbaz and CDF Munir, other foreign dignitaries, clerics, officials and mourners also paid their respects as the body lay in state in a vast hall.

Photos 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 show 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.

Ahmad Vahidi, head of the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the military, made his first appearance since the start of the war in February, paying his respects at the coffin, Iranian media footage showed.

He will lie in state for three days at the colossal Grand Mosalla, which has been draped in banners featuring images and quotes of Khamenei.

Millions of people and a coterie of foreign dignitaries are expected to attend Saturday’s official ceremony for Khamenei. Representatives from around 30 countries are expected to attend the funeral, with people pouring in from neighbouring Iraq and Afghanistan.

The bodies of his slain relatives will also be present.

Multi-city commemorations

The funeral ceremonies for the supreme leader will pass through a series of locations — from the seat of power in Tehran to the holy cities of Qom, Karbala, Najaf and finally Mashhad — that reflect the religious, political and ideological pillars of the Islamic republic.

His funeral, initially delayed at the height of the Middle East war, is taking place as Iran and the US uphold a fragile ceasefire after signing the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding to halt the conflict.

The US and Israel initiated a war against Iran with the initial strikes assassinating the supreme leader and his family members — his daughter, grandchild, son-in-law and daughter-in-law. Other senior Iranian military commanders were also assassinated during the strikes, including Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader.

His public funeral will begin on Saturday, with his body lying in state at the colossal complex in central Tehran that hosts major Friday prayers, official ceremonies and religious gatherings.

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.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said a massive public turnout at the funeral of late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would serve as a “decisive” response to terrorism, violence and bullying, while demonstrating national unity, state broadcaster Press TV reported.

Who is attending from Pakistan?

PM Shehbaz and CDF Munir arrived in Tehran separately earlier today.

CDF Munir was received by Iranian officials and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who was already present in Tehran, an X post by PTV News said.

A post on PM Office’s X account said the premier was received by Iran’s interior minister, Pakistan’s ambassador to Tehran and senior diplomatic officials from Pakistan and Iran at Mehrabad Airport.

The post said the premier was on a one-day visit to Iran, during which he would participate in Khamenei’s funeral rites. “The prime minister will express heartfelt condolences on behalf of the Pakistani people and government to the Iranian leadership and bereaved families, and reaffirm Pakistan’s complete solidarity with the brotherly Iranian nation in this hour of grief,” it added.

PM Shehbaz is accompanied by National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, PPP Secretary General Nayyer Bukhari, and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on the visit to Iran, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said as he left for Tehran.

The PMO said that after wrapping up his visit to Iran, the premier would proceed onward to Turkiye.

Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani also arrived in Tehran with a high-level delegation to attend the funeral prayers and burial earlier in the day, state-run Pakistan Television (PTV) reported. Iranian officials received the delegation upon its arrival in Tehran.