The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said the Maldives was unable to attend the official funeral of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in Iran due to last-minute changes to the protocol arrangements by the Iranian authorities.

In a statement issued today, the ministry said the Maldives had accepted Iran's invitation to attend the official funeral and had initially nominated Maldives Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Permanent Representative to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Ahmed Sareer, to represent the country.

However, shortly before the ambassador's departure, the Iranian Embassy informed the Maldives that revised protocol arrangements no longer allowed ambassadors to attend as representatives of foreign delegations.

The ministry said efforts were then made to arrange for a State Minister to travel to Tehran instead. However, due to the limited availability of flights, the State Minister would only have arrived after the official funeral ceremony had concluded.

The ministry added that the Iranian government expressed appreciation for the Maldives' decision to send a State Minister and suggested that a senior Maldivian government representative visit Iran at a later date instead.

The Foreign Ministry also noted that Foreign Minister Iruthisham Adam had conveyed condolences to her Iranian counterpart on behalf of the Government and the people of the Maldives following the death.