Leaders from across the South Caucasus have attended the funeral of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as millions take to the streets to mourn the country’s longtime leader, killed in US-Israeli strikes in the opening salvo of the war against Iran in February. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili traveled to Tehran for the funeral, while Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev did not attend, with the country instead sending a delegation headed by Parliamentary Speaker Sahiba Gafarova, Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev, and Prime Minister of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic Jabbar Musayev.

In official statements on their respective trips, Pashinyan, Kavelashvili, and the Azerbaijani delegation said they met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other Iranian officials and offered their condolences.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (left) meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (right) in Iran during the funeral ceremony on 3 July 2026. Official photo.

The official Armenian statement said Pashinyan ‘once again expressed his condolences on the death of the Supreme Leader of [Iran] Ali Khamenei, stressing that Armenia shares the grief of the Iranian people’.

In turn, Pezeshkian said ‘Iran highly appreciates the position adopted by the government of Armenia and the humanitarian support it has shown towards Iran in its difficult situation’.

Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili attending the funeral on 3 July 2026. Official photo.,

Kavelashvili wrote about his visit on Facebook, saying he ‘once again extended condolences over the tragic events that took place in Iran and paid respect to the memory of the deceased’.

Georgia ‘supports all efforts aimed at achieving peace, stability, and de-escalation in the region’, Kavelashvili added.

Coverage of the visit by the Azerbaijani delegation indicated similar sentiments, albeit in less detail.

The Azerbaijani delegation arriving in Iran for the funeral on 3 July 2026. Photo: APA.

The inclusion of Nakhchivan’s Prime Minister in the delegation garnered attention on social media, with many noting that at the height of the war, Azerbaijan said Iranian drones had struck Nakhchivan, injuring several people.

The three South Caucasus countries have tread lightly throughout the war and its aftermath. Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia all have complex ties with Iran, but Baku and Yerevan have also sought to strengthen their relations with Washington, while Tbilisi has repeatedly stated its desire to get back in the good graces of the US.

US Representative Joe Wilson, likely the most outspoken opponent of the ruling Georgian Dream party in Congress, criticised Kavelashvili’s decision to attend the funeral, but made no mention of the presence of Pashinyan or the Azerbaijani delegation.

Dictator Khamenei’s funeral draws together all of the worst America haters from around the world, as the Georgian Dream’s fake President Mikheil Kavelashvili plans to attend to deepen the rabidly anti-American pact between Iran and the Georgian Dream https://t.co/upa1NHKuCt

— Joe Wilson (@RepJoeWilson) July 3, 2026

Previous visits by Georgian leaders to Iran have also drawn condemnation from Wilson and other US officials.

US President Donald Trump also weighed in, making typically inflammatory comments to Axios.

‘They are all there. One shot [and we can take them all out], but we are not going to do that because then we would have nobody to negotiate with’.

Mojtaba Khamenei, Ali Khamenei’s son and his successor as supreme leader, was absent from the funeral, further fueling questions about his whereabouts.