TEHRAN – More than 5,000 foreign guests from 30 countries have been accommodated in hotels in Mashhad for the funeral and burial ceremonies of Iran's martyred Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the spokesperson for the funeral organizing committee in Khorasan Razavi province said on Thursday.

Mehdi Shad said 5,084 foreign guests had arrived in the northeastern Iranian city and that the arrival of international delegations was continuing.

"These guests have traveled to Mashhad to participate in the funeral and burial ceremonies of the martyred Leader of the Iranian nation, and the number of foreign delegations is expected to increase in the coming hours," Shad said.

He added that the visitors came from countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, India, Turkey, Oman, Lebanon, Pakistan, the United States, Sweden, Britain, Syria, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Bahrain, Indonesia, Algeria, the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Russia, Switzerland, Bangladesh and Malaysia, among others.

He added that 80 foreign journalists and more than 500 media personnel had been organized and deployed to provide news, photographic and analytical coverage of the ceremonies in Mashhad.

Ayatollah Khamenei was laid to rest on Thursday at the Imam Reza Shrine, Iran's holiest Shia Muslim site, ending six days of public mourning ceremonies held in five cities across Iran and neighboring Iraq. The Leader and several members of his family were martyred in airstrikes on his residence in Tehran on Feb. 28, the first day of Iran's war with the United States and Israel.

AM