Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry will lead a high-level delegation representing Sri Lanka to attend the state funeral of the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian.
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry announced that the delegation will depart tonight to attend the funeral scheduled for Wednesday, May 22.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has declared five days of national mourning honouring Raisi, Amirabdollahian, and six others who perished in a helicopter crash in northwest Iran on Sunday.
Thousands of mourners gathered for the initial funeral procession on Tuesday in Tabriz, the closest major city to the crash site.
Sri Lanka too observed a national day of mourning on Tuesday with the Public Administration Ministry instructing all state-institutions to fly the national flag at half mast.
Iran has been a long term trade and development partner of Sri Lanka, with Sri Lanka recently inking five bilateral agreements during late President Raisi’s visit to the island. Raisi visited Sri Lanka on April 24 for a one-day official trip to launch the Uma Oya dam amid tight security. (Newswire)