TEHRAN -- High-ranking foreign officials from around the world have arrived in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s newly-elected President Ebrahim Raisi Thursday.
Jalil Rahimi Jahanabadi, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of Iran’s Parliament, and other Iranian officials welcomed the speakers of the parliaments of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Niger — namely Nurdinjon Ismailov, Mahmadtoir Zokirzoda and Seyni Oumarou respectively — and their accompanying entourage upon arrival early on Wednesday.
A parliamentary delegation from Guinea Conakry landed at Imam Khomeini International Airport hours earlier.
The inauguration ceremony of Iran’s new president is due to be held at 5:00 p.m. local time (1230 GMT) today.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei officially endorsed Raeisi as the eighth president of Iran during a ceremony in Tehran on Tuesday, as a group of senior Iranian state and military officials attended the event.
Heading their delegations, speaker of the Zanzibar House of Representatives, Zubeir Ali Maulid, and the speaker of the National Assembly of Tanzania, Job Ndugai, arrived at Imam Khomeini International Airport on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Vatican diplomat Christophe Zakhia El-Kassis arrived in Tehran this morning. He was officially received by Rouhollah Motafaker-Azad, a member of the Presiding Board of Parliament, upon arrival.
In addition, South Korea’s Deputy Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun, Bangladeshi State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, and Deputy Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat — the lower house of the Parliament of Malaysia, Mohd Rashid bin Hasnon, are in Tehran to take part in the event.
Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani has also departed Islamabad for the Iranian shrine city of Mashhad.
Sanjrani and his delegation will visit the holy mausoleum of Imam Reza (PBUH), the eighth Shia Imam, there before heading to Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Raeisi. The chairman of the Senate of Pakistan is expected to hold talks with Raeisi and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf during his stay in Tehran.
A day earlier, a high-level delegation from the European Union (EU), led by the Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service Enrique Mora, arrived in the Iranian capital Tehran to participate in Raeisi’s inauguration.
He was welcomed by several officials from the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs upon his arrival at Imam Khomeini International Airport.
Mora was accompanied by Stephan Klement, head of the EU delegation to the international organizations in Vienna, and Head of Task Force European Union Bruno Scholl.
Bosnian Foreign Minister Bisera Turković, Ghanaian Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts Ibrahim Muhammad Awal, and Speaker of the Syrian Parliament Hammouda Sabbagh, also arrived in Tehran on Tuesday.
The spokesman of the presiding board of the Iranian Parliament, Seyed Nezameddin Mousavi, announced on Monday that 115 officials from 73 world states had declared preparedness to attend the ceremony.
He said among the foreign guests are 10 heads of state, 11 foreign ministers, 20 parliament speakers, as well as special envoys, vice speakers of parliaments and parliamentary delegations.
Mousavi said officials and representatives of 11 international and regional organizations, including the United Nations, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), and Economic Cooperation Organization(ECO), have also announced their readiness to join the swearing-in ceremony in Tehran.