PM Shehbaz likely to visit Iran for Ayatollah Khamenei funeral

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to travel to Iran in the first week of July to attend funeral prayers for the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei, who had led Iran since 1989, was killed in the opening hour of the US-Israel war against Iran on February 28 during a strike on a meeting of senior officials in Tehran. Reports said his daughter-in-law, daughter and at least one grandchild were also killed in the attack.

State media has reported that Khamenei will be laid to rest on July 9 in his hometown of Mashhad in northeastern Iran. The burial is to follow three days of funeral ceremonies in Tehran and another ceremony in the holy city of Qom. His son, Mojtaba Ali Khamenei, survived the strike, though he was reportedly injured, and has assumed the role of supreme leader but has not yet appeared in public.

Following the Iran trip, the prime minister is also expected to visit Turkiye. Turkiye was among the countries that supported Pakistan-mediated efforts to stop the war against Iran. Ties between Islamabad and Tehran have improved after Pakistan emerged as a key mediator in the conflict, with Washington and Tehran having praised Pakistan on multiple occasions for helping bring the fighting to a halt. Senior US and Iranian leaders met in Islamabad in April for the first time in several decades.