Maldives says last-minute protocol changes blocked Khamenei funeral attendance

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that the Maldivian government's representative was unable to attend the funeral of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, following last-minute changes to the protocol arrangements communicated by the Iranian authorities.

The ministry issued the statement on Wednesday after questions were raised over the absence of a Maldivian representative at the funeral ceremonies.

According to the ministry, the Maldives received an official invitation from the Iranian government to attend the funeral and appointed Ambassador Ahmed Sareer, the Maldives' Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Permanent Representative to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), as its representative.

The ministry said that, shortly before Ambassador Sareer was due to depart, the Iranian Embassy informed Maldivian authorities that revised protocol arrangements would no longer accommodate participation by representatives at ambassadorial level.

It said the Foreign Ministry then began arrangements to send a State Minister to Tehran instead.

However, the ministry said the proposed representative would only have arrived after the conclusion of the official state funeral. According to the statement, the Iranian government subsequently advised that the visit should instead be arranged for a later date rather than proceed after the official ceremonies had ended.

The official funeral was held last Friday, while the broader funeral ceremonies began last Saturday and were scheduled to continue over the course of a week.

According to the ministry, the changes to the protocol arrangements prevented the Maldives from being represented at the official funeral despite having accepted the invitation to attend.