No Saudi, UAE, Qatar representatives at Khamenei's funeral

While countries from around the world have sent representatives to the final farewell of Iran's former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Saudi Arabia has not sent any delegate. Similarly, no other member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has officially attended the ceremony.

Iran has arranged week-long programmes to pay tribute to Khamenei. The event formally began on Friday, July 3, with foreign dignitaries given the opportunity to pay their respects on the first day. Khamenei's coffin will be placed in public from Saturday.

According to a report by media outlet House of Saud, Saudi Arabia had not nominated any representative to attend Khamenei's funeral as of Friday.

Earlier, in 2024, when Iran's former president Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister attended his funeral. However, Riyadh has not taken similar action this time.

According to the report, alongside Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain have also not sent any representatives so far.

Analysts believe this stance by the Gulf countries is diplomatically significant. They have not formally expressed condolences over Khamenei's death nor taken any public position on Iran's new leadership.

On February 28, following US and Israeli strikes, Iran retaliated by targeting US installations in the Gulf region. On the same day, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed along with several family members, according to Iranian authorities.