INDIA PERSPECTIVE

New Delhi, July 4, 2026. India's response to President Masoud Pezeshkian's invitation reflects New Delhi's pragmatism: Narendra Modi declines, citing a planned trip to Indonesia, and delegates to Pabitra Margherita, Minister of State, and Bihar Governor Arif Mohammad Khan. Congress leader Salman Khurshid was also expected to be part of the delegation. This positioning aligns India with Russia and China - neither Putin nor Xi Jinping will attend - in a similar calculation: to preserve ties with Tehran without straining relations with Washington.

From New Delhi, Indian media have had unusual access to Iranian sources. Ayatollah Hakim Elahi, representative of the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei in India, gave an exclusive interview to India Today at Indira Gandhi Airport before departing for Tehran. He confirmed that Mojtaba would not attend his father's funeral due to security reasons. "He wants to come, he wants to meet people, but security does not permit it. It's very dangerous," Elahi said. The same statement was conveyed to the ANI agency.

Mojtaba's absence is part of a series: he did not attend the funeral of his wife Zahra Haddad-Adel, who was killed in the same American-Israeli strike on February 28 on Ali Khamenei's residence. Designated as the third Supreme Leader by the Assembly of Experts, he has made no physical appearances since then, communicating only through written statements. Conflicting information is circulating about his injuries: the Iranian Ministry of Health mentions a hospital discharge on March 1, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested facial burns making speech difficult.

Security instability is spilling over into the ceremonies. India Today reports, citing the New York Times, that Washington had asked regional countries to alert Tehran to potential Israeli assassination plans targeting Foreign Minister Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf, key negotiators of the April ceasefire. The United States feared that such an operation would derail the talks. Israeli Defense Minister Katz had also stated that Mojtaba was "marked for death," prompting a formal warning from Tehran.

The guest list reveals the reconfiguration of Iran's alliances. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is the highest-ranking leader to confirm his attendance. The European Union has been explicitly excluded, with Tehran reproaching it for not condemning the strike. The ceremonies will take place from July 4 to 9 - in Tehran, Qom, Najaf in Iraq, and Mashhad - with burial at the Imam Reza shrine. Ten million faithful are expected in the four cities.