Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir on Friday attended the funeral ceremony of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, joining numerous heads of state, government leaders and senior foreign dignitaries paying their final respects.
The Pakistani delegation offered condolences and paid tribute to the "blessed body of the Leader Martyr of the Nation," according to statements released by Pakistani authorities.
Khamenei was killed in a US-Israeli airstrike on Feb. 28, the first day of the Iran war, but funeral ceremonies were postponed for months because of the conflict before beginning this week.
The visit comes as Islamabad seeks to consolidate its growing diplomatic profile following its central role in mediating between Iran and the US during this year's conflict.
Pakistan helped secure a temporary Iran-US ceasefire on April 8, ending weeks of fighting and creating space for diplomacy.
Sharif and Munir subsequently emerged as key interlocutors during efforts that led to the Islamabad Talks on April 11-12, bringing senior American and Iranian negotiators together for their first high-level face-to-face engagement since Washington and Tehran broke diplomatic ties in 1979.
Although the negotiations did not produce a comprehensive agreement, they laid the groundwork for continued diplomacy.
Pakistan's mediation efforts later contributed to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), an interim framework aimed at advancing negotiations on regional security, sanctions relief and maritime stability following the ceasefire.
Munir was credited with maintaining direct communication channels between Tehran and Washington during periods of heightened tensions, while Sharif engaged regional leaders to sustain diplomatic momentum.
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