ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif departed Islamabad on Friday for a one-day visit to Iran, where he is scheduled to attend the funeral of Iran’s late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who was killed in airstrikes on the first day of the war, according to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
Funeral processions for Khamenei will begin on July 4 in Tehran and conclude on July 9 with his burial in his hometown of Mashhad. Additional ceremonies are also planned in Qom and Iraq during the intervening days.
The prime minister is 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, the party’s Secretary General Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah.
According to the PMO, PM Shehbaz will convey condolences to the Iranian leadership and the bereaved family on behalf of the government and people of Pakistan. He will also reaffirm Pakistan’s solidarity with the people of Iran.
After attending the funeral in Tehran, the prime minister is expected to travel to Istanbul for a bilateral visit to Türkiye.
Meanwhile, Iran’s ruling clerics are preparing several days of mass funeral rites for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a demonstration of public devotion to the Islamic Republic. Earlier on Friday, Iranian state news agency IRNA reported on Telegram that “the body of the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution has arrived at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla,” referring to the complex by its official name.
Separately, Senate Chairman Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani arrived in Tehran earlier on Friday with a high-level delegation to attend the funeral prayers and burial of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, according to PTV, which shared the update on X. Iranian officials welcomed the Pakistani delegation upon its arrival in the Iranian capital.
Khamenei’s death and the succession of his son, Mojtaba, as Iran’s third supreme leader during the conflict with the country’s principal adversaries mark a pivotal moment in the Islamic Republic’s 47-year history. Mojtaba, who was reportedly seriously wounded in the strike that killed his father, has not appeared in any new images since the war began.