India to send Bihar governor, MoS for External Affairs to Khamenei’s funeral in Iran

India will be represented at the funeral of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by Bihar Governor Syed Ata Hasnain and Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margerita, accompanied by officials from the Ministry of External Affairs.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had formally invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the funeral ceremonies, scheduled from July 4 to 9. However, Modi is unlikely to travel due to a pre-planned multi-nation visit during the same period.

Khamenei was killed in a US-Israeli airstrike on Tehran. His funeral will commence in the Iranian capital on July 4, while the final burial will take place in his hometown of Mashhad on July 9. The burial had originally been planned earlier but was postponed because of the ongoing conflict.

The invitation to India was delivered by the Iranian Embassy in New Delhi shortly after the signing of the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding, a move seen as a signal that Tehran continues to view India as an important strategic and civilizational partner despite changing geopolitical dynamics in West Asia.

India and Iran maintained diplomatic engagement throughout the recent conflict. Iranian Foreign Minister Syed Abbas Aragchchi visited India for the BRICS meeting last month, while Iran’s Energy Minister attended the BRICS Energy Ministers’ meeting in India last week.

Following the deaths of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash in 2024, then Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar represented India at the condolence ceremonies in Tehran.

Leaders from several countries, including China, Russia, Qatar, France and Pakistan, have also been invited to Khamenei’s funeral. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has already confirmed that a delegation from his country will attend.

Prime Minister Modi last visited Iran in 2016, when he met Khamenei and then-President Hassan Rouhani to sign the trilateral agreement involving Afghanistan for the development of the Chabahar Port.

Modi and President Pezeshkian most recently met on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, in October 2024, where the Indian Prime Minister invited him to visit India.