Iran welcomes foreign leaders for Ayatollah Khameinei’s state funeral

A stream of foreign dignitaries, officials and mourners gathered in Tehran on Friday to pay their respects to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Feb. 28 that triggered the war.

Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, a key mediator in the U.S.-Iran talks to end the war, joined mourners on the first day of the multiday funeral ceremonies for the slain Iranian leader.

Pakistan’s interior minister also arrived in Tehran, while a slate of top Iranian officials attended Friday’s ceremonies, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, Speaker of the Parliament Bagher Ghalibaf, Head of the Judiciary Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Leaders from countries across the globe, including Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Cuba and Serbia, were also present in Tehran to pay their respects.

Dmitri Medvedev, Russia’s former president and deputy chairman of its Security Council, is also expected to attend the ceremony Friday, according to the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitri........

© The Hill