Srinagar, July 2 (IANS) Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and president of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said on Thursday that she will travel to Tehran to attend the funeral of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, on the invitation extended to her by the Iranian government.

Mehbooba Mufti intends to travel to Iran to pay final tributes to the country’s slain supreme leader, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, after receiving an official invitation to attend the state funeral in Tehran from July 3 to 6.

Mufti told reporters she would attend the ceremony after being invited as a distinguished guest of India.

“It is an immense honour for me and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to receive this invitation (from Iran). I will travel there to pay my last respects to the supreme leader,” she said.

The invitation was extended by Mohseen Qummi, Director of the International Relations Department at the office of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In his letter, Qummi formally invited Mufti to attend the funeral ceremony as a distinguished guest of India.

The letter said Khamenei was killed on February 28 and that, in accordance with the national period of mourning and the protocols of the Islamic Republic, a state funeral ceremony would be held in Tehran from July 3 to 6.

The state funeral for former Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, is scheduled across a multi-day period from July 4 to July 9.

His body, preserved in cold storage since his assassination on February 28, will be moved across several cities for public ceremonies.

On July 4, 24-hour ceremonies will start, and the body will lie in state at the Grand Mosalla of Tehran.

On July 7, ceremonies are scheduled at the holy city of Qom.

On July 9, the final burial procession will take place in his hometown, Mashhad, followed by interment at the shrine of Imam Reza.

Authorities have heavily restricted movements and implemented vast security operations across major urban centres to manage crowds.

–IANS

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