Iran FM holds meetings in Iraq ahead of funeral for martyred Leader

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has held meetings with senior Iraqi government officials as part of preparations for a mass funeral for the late Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, which is planned to be held in the Arab country next month.

Araghchi met Iraq’s National Security Advisor Qasim al-Aboudi and Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office Ehsan al-Awadi, who also chairs the committee responsible for organizing the late Leader's funeral in Iraq.

The top Iranian diplomat had earlier met the Iraqi president and prime minister, as well as his counterpart Fuad Hussein. Araghchi said after his meeting with Hussein that a main objective of his trip to Iraq is to coordinate the funerals planned for the late Ayatollah Khamenei in the Iraqi cities of Baghdad, Kadhimiya, Karbala, and Najaf.

Ayatollah Khamenei was assassinated in a US-Israeli airstrike on his office in central Tehran on the first day of the US-Israeli aggression on Iran on February 28.

The late Leader was a source of emulation and an inspiring figure for millions of Shias in Iraq and other Muslim countries.

Iranian authorities plan to send Ayatollah Khamenei’s coffin to Iraq on July 8 after four days of funeral ceremonies in the Iranian capital Tehran and in the central city of Qom and before a burial ceremony is planned in the holy city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran.

Araghchi also met with Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi later on Sunday, where the two discussed bilateral relations between Iran and Iraq, as well as a recent memorandum of understanding signed between Iran and the US aimed at ending the US-Israeli aggression on Iran.

During the meeting, Halbousi said that Iraq supports diplomatic efforts to end the confrontations and crises in the region.

Araghchi said that Iran will continue to support Iraq as part of efforts to expand and deepen bilateral relations between the two neighboring countries.

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