Speaker Hafiz leaves for Iran to attend Ayatollah Khamenei's funeral

Bangladesh National Parliament Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed departed Dhaka for Iran on Thursday to attend the funeral of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on 4 July.

The Speaker left from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 7:30am.

Ayatollah Khamenei was born on 19 April 1939 in Mashhad, in north-eastern Iran. He died on 28 February 2026 at the age of 86.

Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Khamenei played a key role in Iran's new political system. In 1980, he briefly served as defence minister.

After the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War, he became supervisor of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and was later elected President of Iran.

Following the death of Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989, Iran's Assembly of Experts elected Khamenei as the country's Supreme Leader.

The Speaker is scheduled to return to Bangladesh on 4 July after attending the funeral.