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The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain

Last salute to Iranian leader!

by our Arab Affairs correspondent

Millions of Iranians paid their last respects to Sayyed Ali Khamanei at memorial ceremonies across the country as leaders from the Arab world, the broader Muslim community and the Global South landed in Tehran for the final salute to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic who was martyred during the first wave of American and Israeli terror attacks in February.

Ali Akbar Pourjamshidian, Iran’s deputy interior minister, said that following Friday’s ceremony, farewell ceremonies will be held at Imam Khomeini’s Mosalla prayer hall in Tehran over the weekend. A funeral procession follows on Monday. The following day a ceremony will be held in Iran’s central city of Qom, and on 8th July, the Supreme Leader’s body will be transferred to Iraq for further rites. He will finally be laid to rest in the north- eastern Iranian city of Mashhad on 9th July.

Any attempt by the Americans or their Israeli lackeys to disrupt the solemn ceremonies will be met with a fierce response. “We warn the enemies of Iran, especially the US and the Zionist entity, to avoid any miscalculation and to think about the harsh retaliation our armed forces would make to any threat and aggression against our country” said Major-General Ali Abdollahi, the Commander of the Iranian High Command, the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters.

More than 20 million people are expected in Tehran for the state funeral of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who was killed with family members at the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran. They’re joined by delegations from around 100 countries, including senior officials from Pakistan, China, India and Russia, who have come to the Iranian capital to honour the memory of the spiritual leader of the Shia Muslim community this week.

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif of Pakistan, who served as the main mediator between Tehran and Washington, will be there along with the leaders of Armenia, Georgia and Tajikistan.

Leadership delegations from Bangladesh, India, Iraq, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Venezuela, Belarus and the DPR Korea, as well as representatives of Hamas, Hezbollah and the north Yemeni Houthi government, are also attending the funeral.

Former Russian president Dimitri Medvedev, the Deputy Chairman of the Kremlin’s Security Council widely tipped to succeed Vladimir Putin when the Russian leader retires, is there. So is He Wei, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the highest legislative body in the People’s Republic of China. But no invitations were sent to the Western European countries or those who directly, or indirectly, supported the Israeli and American military campaign on Iran.