Indonesian Ambassador Hadir untuk Penghormatan Terakhir untuk Mendiang Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Ambassador to Iran Roy Soemirat attended the final tribute ceremony and joint prayer for the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran has held a series of official final farewell ceremonies and joint prayers for the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei since July 3 before the funeral on July 9.

Spokesperson for the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yvonne Mewengkang, said the Indonesian government received an invitation to attend a series of ceremonies to honor the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Yvonne explained, the Iranian government on July 2 "informed all diplomatic representatives in Iran that the official tribute event would be attended by high officials from the central government."

"In connection with this, the Government of the Republic of Indonesia has conveyed that Indonesia will be represented by the Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia in Tehran," explained Yvonne in her statement, Saturday (4/7).

Iran also appreciated the "decision of the Indonesian Government to officially appoint the Indonesian Ambassador in Tehran to represent Indonesia."

"On the morning of July 4, Tehran time, the Indonesian Ambassador was present at a joint prayer and prayer for the deceased who was buried at the Grand Mosalla, Tehran," said Yvonne.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a US-Israeli attack on February 28, which triggered a weeks-long war and increased tensions in the Middle East.

The official funeral series begins on Saturday, but the official tribute ceremony for the head of state, senior officials and religious leaders of various countries was held on Friday.

Ali Akbar Pourjamshidian, secretary of the national funeral and farewell committee, estimated representatives from around 30 countries would attend the ceremony.

Khamenei's coffin, as well as several members of his family, was placed at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla in Tehran on Friday, CNN reported.

Iranian government media reported that the other coffins were Seyyedeh Boshra Hosseini Khamenei (Khamenei's eldest daughter), Mesbah-ol-Hoda Bagheri (son-in-law), Zahra Haddad Adel (daughter-in-law) and Zahra Mohammadi Golpaygani (14 months) who are Khamenei's grandchildren.

IRIB reported that a number of religious figures from Indonesia and Afghanistan were among the first to pay their last respects at the Grand Mosalla.

Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref, who was the main organizer of the funeral, described the ceremony, which began on Saturday in Tehran and will end with a funeral on Thursday in Mashhad, as "the most important event of this century" and the most attended event since the 1979 revolution, quoted from The Guardian.

A series of funerals on Saturday will be held at Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla, Tehran, where Khamenei and his family will be buried.

A six-mile (10 km) procession through central Tehran is planned on Monday from Imam Hossein Square to Azadi Square, the site of the 1979 revolution led by Khamenei after the death of the first supreme leader, Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1989 from natural causes.

On Tuesday, Khamenei's body will be taken to the holy city of Qom, passing between the tomb of Fatima Masumeh and the Jamkaran Mosque.

Then, the body will be taken to the Iraqi Shiite strongholds of Karbala and Najaf on Wednesday. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has visited both cities to consult on the ceremony.

Meanwhile, the funeral on Thursday will take place at the Imam Reza Cemetery Complex in Mashhad, the birthplace of the supreme leader.