Iran’s speaker, FM to attend Nasrallah funeral in Lebanon today
Iran’s Parliament Speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, are scheduled to participate in the funeral ceremony of long-time Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah who was assassinated by Israel in September.
Qalibaf, “along with a number of parliamentarians and state officials will leave on Sunday for Lebanon to attend Nasrallah’s funeral,” member of parliament Alireza Salimi told IRNA on Saturday.
Fars News Agency reported on Friday that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi would also attend the ceremony.
According to IRNA, a memorial ceremony will also be held on Sunday in Tehran and in several cities across Iran.
Tens of thousands of people are expected to turn out in Beirut to bid farewell to the group’s leader.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah has made preparations for a massive turnout for the funeral.
The country will stop for Sunday’s funeral, to be held at 1:00 pm (1100 GMT) at the Camille Chamoun sports stadium on the capital’s outskirts.
Hezbollah has announced strict security measures and urged security forces to help manage crowds that are expected to number in the tens of thousands.
Hezbollah has invited senior Lebanese officials including the president.
The ceremony is expected to last around an hour, including a speech by current leader Naim Qassem.
Civil aviation authorities said Beirut airport will close exceptionally and flights will be suspended from midday until 4:00 pm.
Representatives from more than 60 countries will participate in the funeral ceremony on Sunday.
Nasrallah, who led Hezbollah for more than three decades, was assassinated in an Israeli air strike on southern Beirut on September 27 last year. The resistance group delayed his funeral due to security concerns.
The massive air strike also killed Abbas Nilforoushan, a senior commander in Iran’s Quds Force.
The ceremony will also be for Hashem Safieddine, who was chosen to succeed Nasrallah before being killed in a later Israeli strike.
Safieddine will be buried on Monday in his southern hometown of Deir Qanun al-Nahr.
In retaliation for their killings, Iran fired around 200 missiles at Israel in October.