Mikheil Kavelashvili, the State President elected by the ruling Georgian Dream party, visited Tehran to attend the funeral of Iran's deceased Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. During the visit, Kavelashvili met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on July 3 to convey his condolences and was seen paying his respects as the body was displayed in a ceremony hall in Tehran. In an official statement, Kavelashvili noted that he attended Khamenei's funeral alongside leaders from various countries around the world and reiterated his condolences regarding the tragic events in Iran during his meeting with Pezeshkian. He also emphasized Georgia's support for all efforts toward peace, stability, and de-escalation in the region, thanked Pezeshkian for his support for Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and added that Tbilisi-Tehran relations are based on respect for mutual interests and national interests. Kavelashvili expressed confidence that cooperation based on good neighborly relations would continue to promote the development of relations between the two countries and a stable and peaceful future for the region.
As numerous high-ranking officials from the region flocked to Tehran for Khamenei's funeral, it was reported that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, and high-ranking officials from the Azerbaijani government also arrived in Tehran. Khamenei, 86, lost his life in US and Israeli airstrikes on February 28 at the start of the war in the Middle East. According to Iran's WANA news agency, the funeral ceremonies will begin on July 4 at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla in Tehran, and the funeral prayer will be performed on the morning of July 5. Following ceremonies in Tehran, Qom, and Iraq, Khamenei is expected to be laid to rest in his hometown Mashhad on July 9. Kavelashvili's visit takes place amid growing scrutiny of relations between Tbilisi and Tehran in an environment of rising tension in the Middle East. The Georgian Dream government had previously expressed condolences to both Iran and Israel on March 2, stating that the ongoing conflicts had caused the most loss of life in Iran, noting that the supreme leader, as well as other political leaders, innocent civilians, and dozens of children, had lost their lives.
The visit appears to be reigniting debates regarding the potential impact of the Georgian Dream government's policies toward Iran on relations between the US and Georgia. US House of Representatives member Joe Wilson harshly criticized the ruling Georgian Dream party, accusing it of adopting a pro-Iran stance. Reacting to Kavelashvili's trip to Tehran, Wilson claimed in a social media post that Dictator Khamenei's funeral brought America's enemies from all over the world together and that Georgian Dream's fake President Mikheil Kavelashvili planned to attend this ceremony to deepen the vehement anti-American alliance between Iran and Georgian Dream. These harsh criticisms bring into question how Georgia maintains its balance between the West and Iran in its foreign policy route. Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze's congratulation of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei on his election as Iran's new supreme leader in previous months was met with reaction by the opposition in the country and international public opinion. Moves such as lighting the TV tower in Tiflis with colors in memory of the Iranian revolution and the participation of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in the commemoration event revealed the warm relationship between the two countries. Recent events show that Georgia, due to its strategic location, is forced to pursue an increasingly constricted diplomacy between countries like Iran and Russia, with which it tries to maintain relations, and its traditional allies.
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