New Delhi, 24 June– Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s reported invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the burial ceremonies for the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei seems to have trapped India into a catch 22 situation.
While the Modi government is neither confirming nor denying the invitation but sources said that Modi is not very keen to go himself and therefore may decide to send either Vice President Radhakrishnan or Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to represent the country at the event.
Modi does not want to displease Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump as his going to Tehran will not go well either in Tel Aviv or Washington, sources said.
Pezeshkian’s invitation has been delivered, diplomatic sources said adding that the funeral ceremonies will be held from July 5 to 9.
Khamenei, who ruled Iran for three decades, was killed on February 28, the first day of massive US and Israeli air strikes on Tehran.
The funeral is slated to be held in Tehran and Qom on July 5, 6 and 7. The final ceremony will take place in the city of Mashhad on July 9.
As per sources, the formal invite was sent to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday by the Iranian Embassy in New Delhi. The Iranian Embassy in New Delhi had received the invite two days ago.
The funeral ceremonies will begin in Tehran on July 4 and conclude with Khamenei’s burial in his hometown, Mashhad, on July 9.
Khamenei, 86, was killed in a joint US-Israeli airstrike on his compound on February 28. His burial was initially scheduled for March, but was postponed as the war dragged on.
Modi is among a host of world leaders who have received formal invitations on behalf of President Pezeshkian, including those from China, Russia, Qatar, France, and Pakistan. On Friday, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had announced that a Pakistani delegation would attend Khamenei’s funeral.
Modi’s last official bilateral visit to Iran was in May 2016, when he met Khamenei and then President Hassan Rouhani to sign a trilateral agreement to develop Chabahar Port. Two years later, in February 2018, President Rouhani travelled to India at the invitation of PM Modi and visited New Delhi and Hyderabad.
Modi and Pezeshkian had last met on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, in October 2024, during which PM Modi had invited Pezeshkian to visit India.
Sources in New Delhi said that India is yet to decide on its representation for the state funeral programme. In 2024, after the deaths of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash, then Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar had visited Tehran to represent India.
He led the Indian delegation at the official memorial and condolence ceremony, along with senior MEA officials. While PM Modi had expressed his condolences in a post on X, India had also declared a one-day state mourning on May 21, 2024.
India formally condoled Khamenei’s death on March 5. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had visited the Iranian Embassy in New Delhi to sign the official condolence book.
Veteran Journalist and Political Commentator
