On Tuesday evening, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior Iranian figures flew to Iraq to take part in the ceremonies for Khamenei.
The Iranian delegation was welcomed on arrival by Iraqi Prime Minister al-Zaidi, whose government declared Wednesday a public holiday.
Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his father, once again did not make an appearance. He has not been seen in public since he was reportedly seriously wounded in the same Israeli air strike in Tehran on 28 February that killed his father, his wife and several other family members.
Pezeshkian reportedly flew home to Tehran early on Wednesday, after the US and Iran exchanged strikes following attacks on several tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
The US blamed the attacks on Iran and said its forces in the region carried out strikes on dozens of Iranian military targets in retaliation. Iran said it responded by attacking US military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait.
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he believed the three-week-old preliminary agreement between the US and Iran to end the war was “over”.
Iran’s Parliamentary Speaker and top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, accused the US of violating the deal and warned that Iranians “don’t fold”.
The memorandum of understanding signed by Trump and Pezeshkian called for the reopening of Strait of Hormuz, a Gulf waterway through which 20% of global oil and gas shipments pass, and gave them two months to reach a final deal that covers Iran’s nuclear programme, US sanctions and a permanent truce.
Last week, mediator Qatar said Iranian and US negotiators made “positive progress” at indirect talks in Doha following a similar exchange of strikes, and that their next meeting would take place after the conclusion of the ceremonies for Khamenei.
