From left, Iran’s acting president Mohammad Mokhber, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iranian supreme leader, in talks after a funeral ceremony for late president Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran. EPA
From left, Iran’s acting president Mohammad Mokhber, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iranian supreme leader, in talks after a funeral ceremony for late president Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran. EPA
From left, Iran’s acting president Mohammad Mokhber, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iranian supreme leader, in talks after a funeral ceremony for late president Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran. EPA
From left, Iran’s acting president Mohammad Mokhber, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iranian supreme leader, in talks after a funeral ceremony for late president Ebrahim Raisi

World leaders and officials that attended Ebrahim Raisi's funeral


Nada AlTaher
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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's funeral was attended by thousands of Iranians and several high-ranking officials and dignitaries from around the world.

Mr Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday, along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and thousands joined processions in Tehran, before the burial in Mr Raisi's home city of Mashhad on Thursday.

Notably, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah was in attendance - his second visit to Tehran since a 2023 agreement between Riyadh and Tehran to re-establish ties.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim was seen with a delegation shaking hands and exchanging words with Iranian officials at the processions. Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was also present.

Sheikh Tamim offered condolences to Iran's interim president Mohammad Mokhber over the death of his predecessor Ebrahim Raisi. Photo: @IMO_Qatar / X
Sheikh Tamim offered condolences to Iran's interim president Mohammad Mokhber over the death of his predecessor Ebrahim Raisi. Photo: @IMO_Qatar / X

From the Gulf, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed led the UAE delegation that took part in an official mourning ceremony for Mr Raisi.

Kuwait's Foreign Minister Abdullah Ali Al Yahya attended the funeral on behalf of Emir Sheikh Meshal, the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry said.

Tunisian President Kais Saied and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani were among regional leaders in attendance, as well as Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. Egypt has had no diplomatic relations with Iran since the 1979 revolution.

Tunisian President Kais Saied pays his respects to Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran. Photo: @TnPresidency / X
Tunisian President Kais Saied pays his respects to Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran. Photo: @TnPresidency / X

Russia, an ally of Iran since the 1990s, sent Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov who was seen at the processions, although leaders from the West were absent. The two countries have developed stronger military ties since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Major Iran-backed armed groups also attended. Hamas's political head Ismail Haniyeh made it his first trip outside of Doha, where he lives, since the International Criminal Court requested an arrest warrant for alleged war crimes, alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

During his attendance of the funeral processions, Mr Haniyeh, who has lost three of his sons in the war in Gaza, said he was present "on behalf of the Palestinian people" and "in the name of the resistance factions of Gaza", to offer his condolences.

Lebanon-based, Iran-backed group Hezbollah's deputy leader Naim Qassem was also at the funeral on Wednesday.

Mr Qassem was seen alongside Mr Haniyeh.

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam Al Houthi was also present at the funeral. Both Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthis received the bulk of their support from Iran.

Other paramilitary groups, including elements of Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces attended, represented by Faleh Al Fayadh, who is under US sanctions, as well as Mr Qassem.

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