TEHRAN: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Asim Munir on Friday paid their respects to Iran’s late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in a US-Israeli strike on February 28.
According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Prime Minister Shehbaz attended the funeral ceremony and paid rich tribute to the assassinated Iranian leader.
He also expressed solidarity with Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Iranian President Dr Masoud Pezeshkian and the people of Iran during what he described as a moment of national grief. After attending the ceremony, the premier departed for Istanbul to begin his visit to Türkiye.
Field Marshal Asim Munir also left for Pakistan following the ceremony, according to PTV. He was seen off at the airport by Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni and other senior Iranian officials.
Khamenei’s body arrived at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla on Friday ahead of the funeral ceremonies. Prime Minister Shehbaz and Field Marshal Munir joined foreign dignitaries, religious scholars, government officials and thousands of mourners in paying their final respects as the late leader’s body lay in state inside the sprawling ceremonial complex.
Images released from the venue showed mourners carrying Khamenei’s coffin, draped in Iran’s tricolour flag, into the Grand Mosalla, one of the country’s most significant religious and ceremonial sites. Other photographs captured large crowds dressed in black attending a pre-funeral gathering, with the coffin placed before a backdrop decorated with red flowers and suspended white butterflies.
Ahmad Vahidi, head of the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological branch of Iran’s military, made his first public appearance since the outbreak of the war in February. Iranian media footage showed him paying his respects at Khamenei’s coffin.
The late supreme leader will lie in state for three days at the Grand Mosalla, which has been adorned with banners displaying his photographs and quotations.
Millions of mourners and dozens of foreign dignitaries are expected to attend Saturday’s official funeral ceremony. Representatives from around 30 countries are expected to participate, while large numbers of people have travelled from neighbouring Iraq and Afghanistan to join the commemorations. The bodies of Khamenei’s slain relatives will also be present during the funeral proceedings.
The funeral commemorations will continue across multiple cities, tracing a route through locations that symbolise the religious, political and ideological foundations of the Islamic Republic. The ceremonies will begin in Tehran before continuing to the holy cities of Qom, Karbala and Najaf, and will conclude in Mashhad.
Initially postponed during the height of the Middle East conflict, the funeral is taking place as Iran and the United States observe a fragile ceasefire following the signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding aimed at ending the conflict.
The war began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran, during which Khamenei and several members of his family—including his daughter, grandchild, son-in-law and daughter-in-law—were assassinated. Several senior Iranian military figures were also killed in the attacks, including Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to the supreme leader.
Khamenei’s public funeral will officially begin on Saturday after his body lies in state at the Grand Mosalla, the vast complex in central Tehran that hosts Friday prayers, national ceremonies and major religious gatherings.
Following the ceremonies in Tehran, Khamenei’s body will be transported to the Iraqi holy cities of Najaf and Karbala before being taken to Mashhad, his birthplace in northeastern Iran, where he will be buried on July 9 at the shrine of Imam Reza.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the expected massive turnout at the funeral would send a decisive message against terrorism, violence and intimidation while reflecting the unity and resilience of the Iranian nation, according to state broadcaster Press TV.