Official delegations and senior political figures from several countries arrived in Tehran on Friday as funeral ceremonies began for former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Iranian media reported.
Iranian state television aired live footage from the capital as memorial events got underway, with more foreign delegations expected to arrive throughout the day.
Khamenei was killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran on Feb. 28, a strike that triggered weeks of war and sharply escalated tensions across the region.
Among those arriving in Tehran were Iraqi President Nizar Amidi, Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi and an accompanying parliamentary delegation, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani and Uzbek Parliament Speaker Nuriddin Ismoilov, according to Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also arrived in Tehran at the head of an official delegation, his office said.
Iranian media said delegations representing Palestinian religious scholars, Russian clerics, Turkish political parties, Lebanese political parties, Indian representatives and Thai Shia Muslim groups were also in Tehran to pay their respects.
Representatives of the Bulgarian Republican Party and members of parliament also attended memorial events honoring the late Iranian leader, according to Iranian reports.
Members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah held a separate farewell ceremony in tribute to Khamenei.
Iranian media said memorial events would continue over the coming days as part of a week-long funeral schedule.
An official memorial ceremony for Khamenei is set to be held Friday with the participation of heads of state, senior officials and religious leaders.
Farewell ceremonies will continue in Tehran on July 4 and 5, before the main funeral procession takes place in the capital on July 6.
The funeral rites will then move to the holy city of Qom on July 7.
On July 8, ceremonies are scheduled in Iraq, including Baghdad, Najaf and Karbala, where the body is expected to be received by religious and political figures before being taken to major Shia shrines.
The final funeral and burial ceremony is scheduled for July 9 at the Imam Ali Reza Shrine in the northeastern city of Mashhad, one of Shia Islam’s holiest sites.