Bihar Governor Hasnain and Foreign Minister Margherita are likely to represent India at Khamenei’s funeral

The late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in Israeli-American strikes on February 28. Photo credit: West Asia News Agency via Reuters

Bihar Governor Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (retd) and Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita are likely to lead the Indian delegation to Iran for the funeral rites of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sources familiar with the plans told The Hindu. The final composition of the delegation is yet to be finalised, officials said here.

Khamenei was killed in Israeli strikes on February 28, the first day of a joint US-Israeli operation against Iran.

Last week, President Masoud Pezeshkian invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the funeral rites in Iran. However, Mr Modi is understood to have a prior commitment to travel to Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand from July 6 to 11.

The Indian delegation will be among a large group of foreign dignitaries invited by Tehran for events related to the funeral, which will begin from July 3 and continue until July 9. Diplomatic sources had earlier told The Hindu that while the ceremonies would be held in the capital Tehran and the holy city of Qom, the funeral would be held in Mashhad, a famous pilgrimage center in northeastern Iran. The choice of Mashhad for burial indicates the high status accorded him after his assassination.

“Big Opportunity”

The choice of Governor Hasnain and MoS Margherita drew criticism from veteran diplomats. Talmiz Ahmad, India’s former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said he was “deeply disappointed” with the selection of the delegation. “This is not an appropriate representation, given the high status of the person concerned. Ayatollah Khamenei is highly revered in India. He has met all the prime ministers of the past four decades, including our current prime minister who met him during his visit to Iran in May 2016,” Mr Ahmad said, pointing to changes sweeping the region that require India to exercise its diplomatic diligence.

Commentators here described the funeral in Tehran as a “big opportunity” for India to restructure its West Asia policy. They said the selection of the delegation indicated that India was not aware of the importance of the event.

The then Indian Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar represented the government at the funeral of President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran in May 2024 after he died in a helicopter crash.

The Hindu earlier cited Iranian officials as saying that Ali Khamenei had achieved martyrdom in the previous four months. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh, who visited Delhi in the first week of March, said the “Khamenei cult” was born in Iran. Subsequently, in a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Pezeshkian called Ali Khamenei the “leader of the Islamic revolution” of Iran. “The martyred leader, in addition to his political leadership, was also the spiritual leader of Muslims around the world,” Mr. Pezeshkian said, suggesting that Khamenei’s influence transcended the Shiite-Sunni divide in Islam.

Published – 29 Jun 2026 22:33 IST