ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani offered condolences late Friday for the death of Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei following his visit to Iran.
“Today, at the farewell ceremony for Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the late and martyred Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, I paid my respects before his body and expressed my deep sympathies, as well as those of the people of the Kurdistan Region, to the Iranian nation,” President Barzani posted on X.
He noted that Khamenei's “wise guidance and historic role in the developments of Iran and the region will remain in the memory of history,” adding that, “We believe that mutual understanding, mutual respect, and the continuation of constructive dialogue are the surest path to achieving regional peace, stability, and lasting security.”
Barzani’s statement comes after his arrival in Iran on Friday to attend the funeral ceremony of Iran's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei (1939 - 2026).
Barzani emphasized the importance of longstanding ties between the Kurdistan Region and Iran, adding that continued cooperation is essential for mutual interests and regional stability.
Khamenei was killed on February 28, on the first day of the joint US-Israeli aerial campaign launched against Iran, alongside several of the country's top leaders and commanders. The six-week Iran war as well as ensuing intermittent tit-for-tat military escalations and maritime measures by Washington and Tehran posed a delay in processions.
The funeral ceremony is set to begin Saturday and Sunday, with the body lying in state at Tehran's Grand Mosalla before a mass funeral procession Monday in the Iranian capital.
Further rites are scheduled in Iran's shrine city of Qom, with Khamenei's body expected to be transferred to Iraq's southern holy cities of Karbala and Najaf.
The late supreme leader’s final burial is set to take place in the shrine city of Mashhad in northern Iran on July 9.
.jpeg&w=3840&q=75)
