TEHRAN (Lord Media): 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 Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during funeral ceremonies in Tehran, expressing Pakistan’s solidarity with the Iranian leadership and people following his assassination.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Prime Minister Shehbaz attended the funeral ceremony and paid rich tribute to the late Iranian leader. He also conveyed heartfelt condolences and solidarity to Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Iranian President Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian and the people of Iran during what the PMO described as a moment of national grief.
Following the ceremony, the prime minister departed Tehran for Istanbul on the next leg of his official visit to Turkiye.
Field Marshal Asim Munir also attended the funeral rites before leaving for Pakistan. Pakistan Television (PTV) reported that he was seen off at the airport by Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni and other senior Iranian officials.
The body of Ayatollah Khamenei was brought to Tehran’s Grand Mosalla ahead of the funeral, where thousands of mourners, senior Iranian officials, foreign dignitaries and religious leaders gathered to pay their final respects.
Images from the ceremony showed mourners carrying the coffin, draped in Iran’s national flag, into the Grand Mosalla, one of the country’s principal religious and ceremonial venues. Large crowds dressed in black attended the pre-funeral gathering as floral tributes surrounded the coffin.
Iranian media also showed Ahmad Vahidi, a senior commander of the Revolutionary Guards, paying tribute to the late supreme leader at the ceremony.
The funeral events are expected to continue over several days, with the body lying in state at the Grand Mosalla before being taken through a series of religious cities, including Qom, Najaf and Karbala, ahead of burial on July 9 at the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad, the late leader’s birthplace.
Iranian President Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian said a massive public turnout at the funeral would demonstrate national unity and serve as a decisive response to terrorism, violence and intimidation.
Prime Minister Shehbaz arrived in Tehran earlier in the day on a one-day official visit. He was received at Mehrabad Airport by Iran’s interior minister, Pakistan’s ambassador to Tehran and senior officials from both countries.
The prime minister was accompanied by National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, PPP Secretary General Nayyar Bukhari and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah.
Separately, Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani also reached Tehran with a high-level parliamentary delegation to participate in the funeral ceremonies.
Pakistan has reiterated its condolences to the Iranian leadership and people while reaffirming solidarity with the neighbouring country during the period of mourning. LORD
