Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh's death in an Israeli airstrike comes only a day after he shared the stage with Union minister Nitin Gadkari and leaders from other countries in Tehran at the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
The function that was attended by the Hamas chief also witnessed the presence of other Iran-backed regional groups - Islamic Jihad represented by Ziyad al-Nakhalah, Lebanon's Hezbollah represented by Naim Qassem and Yemen's Huthi rebels represented by Mohammed Abdulsalam.
According to news agency AFP, the ceremony was also attended by European Union envoy Enrique Mora and senior officials from Armenia, Tajikistan, Egypt, Sudan, Iraq, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Cuba and Brazil.
Sharing pictures of him with other world leaders after the event in a post on 'X', Nitin Gadkari wrote: “Heartfelt congratulations to H.E. @drpezeshkian on behalf of Hon'ble PM Shri @narendramodi Ji, the Indian Government and people of India.”
He further added, "We look forward to continued collaboration and mutual growth, reaffirming our commitment to furthering India-Iran relations across various sectors for the prosperity and development of both countries."
Pezeshkian was sworn-in as Iran's ninth president after he defeated hardliner Saeed Jalili in a run-off election.
The Iranian presidential poll was necessitated after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a chopper crash in May.
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