First visuals from Khamenei's funeral: Mehbooba Mufti, Salman Khurshid among Indian attendees

ATeam up of amerind dignitaries, including former Jammu and cashmere chief government minister Mehbooba Mufti and senior u.s. Congress leader Salman Khurshid, who heads the party's foreign affairs department, paid tributes to Iran's former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday in Tehran.Khamenei was killed in the United States and Israeli strikes during the opening day of the war. His funeral ceremonies will begin over the weekend in Tehran, followed by large processions next week in Qom and Mashhad, as well as memorial events in Iraq. Follow live updates related to Khamenei's funeral here.Indian dignitaries pay tribute to KhameneiMufti and Khurshid paid their respects to Khamenei on Friday ahead of the former supreme leader's funeral and burial ceremonies. During the mourning period, Khamenei's body will be taken in funeral processions across cities in Iran and neighbouring Iraq.Visuals aired by local media and shared by Mufti on X showed her and Khurshid paying tribute. Several religious leaders from India also paid tribute to Khamenei in Tehran, images shared by the Iran embassy in India showed. After their departure, the official Indian government delegation also left New Delhi. Minister of state (MoS) for external affairs Pabitra Margherita departed from his residence in the national capital on Friday morning as India prepared to join other international delegations attending the ceremonies in Iran.Margherita, along with Bihar Governor Lieutenant General (Retired) Syed Ata Hasnain, will travel to Iran to attend the funeral ceremony.Khamenei's funeral in IranOn Thursday, workers in Tehran were putting up new posters expressing support for the country's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei. The posters featured images of the late Ali Khamenei alongside a raised revolutionary fist behind his successor.Officials and foreign dignitaries, including representatives from Russia and China, are expected to offer their condolences during events on Friday.On Saturday, Khamenei's body will be taken to a mosque in Tehran for the first stage of a nationwide funeral procession. The bodies of his daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter, along with the wife of the Mojtaba Khamenei, who were all killed in the same strike, will be carried alongside.Hotels are offering 50 per cent discounts for mourners, while schools, mosques and sports halls have been prepared to provide accommodation. Bus and rail services have also been redirected to support the funeral arrangements.After what authorities have described as a massive procession through central Tehran on Monday, Khamenei's body will be taken to the seminary city of Qom, the centre of Iran's Shia religious establishment, where ceremonies will be held on Tuesday.Funeral ceremonies will then continue in the Iraqi shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala on Wednesday, with senior figures from Iran's regional network of Shia allies expected to attend.Khamenei will be buried on Thursday in Mashhad, near the shrine of Imam Reza, following another funeral procession.Security measures will remain tight throughout the ceremonies. Temporary airspace restrictions have been imposed over Tehran and several other cities, while authorities have warned of a strong response if the United States or Israel launches any further attacks.With inputs from agencies