Pakistan PM and Afghan Foreign Minister Attend Ali Khamenei's Funeral

The funeral procession for Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, has commenced in Tehran. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi attended the funeral procession for Ali Khamenei. Sharif, whose country has acted as a mediator in US-Iran negotiations, was accompanied by Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, Asim Munir. Khamenei died in late February at the age of 86 as a result of a US-Israeli attack that sparked a war in the Middle East. Khamenei’s body arrived at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla. The series of funeral ceremonies for Khamenei was attended by millions of people. The final tribute ceremony, originally scheduled for early March, was forced to be postponed due to the war. It was only after Washington and Tehran agreed to a fragile ceasefire that Iranian authorities announced the implementation of the mourning ceremonies. According to the committee chairman, Ali Akbar Pourjamshidian, a senior officer in the Revolutionary Guard, the series of events was intended to ‘strengthen national unity’. However, its effectiveness remains in question.