Prepared by Messenger Staff
Kavelashvili to Attend Khamenei's Funeral in Iran
Georgian Dream-elected President Mikheil Kavelashvili will attend the funeral of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the presidential administration confirmed.
Kavelashvili will join other regional leaders at the ceremony, with Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia also sending representatives, the administration said.
The confirmation followed a June 29 report by the Tehran-based West Asia News Agency, which said Kavelashvili was expected to attend the funeral and burial ceremonies as part of an official delegation. The same report named Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow as expected attendees, along with delegations from Qatar and Pakistan.
Khamenei, 86, was killed in U.S.-Israeli air strikes on February 28, at the outset of the war in the Middle East. According to WANA, funeral ceremonies will begin on July 4 at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Mosalla, with funeral prayers held the following morning. After further ceremonies in Tehran, Qom and Iraq, Khamenei is expected to be buried in his hometown of Mashhad on July 9.
Protester Sentenced to One Year in Plea Deal
Tamar Lortkipanidze, a protester who climbed onto a police car during an anti-government rally on Tbilisi's Rustaveli Avenue on October 22, 2025, has reached a plea deal and been sentenced to one year in prison. She has already spent eight months in pre-trial detention and will be released in four months.
Lortkipanidze was initially arrested on hooliganism charges. She was later charged with attacking a police officer's vehicle in connection with the October 22 incident, along with a separate charge of violence causing physical pain over a confrontation with a taxi driver the same night. Prosecutors alleged she punched the driver. Combined, the charges carried a potential sentence of four to seven years.
Under the plea deal, Lortkipanidze pleaded guilty and received a one-year prison term along with a three-year suspended sentence.
Her case is the latest in a series of plea agreements in cases related to the unrest that followed the October 4 election. The agreements have led to the release of dozens of protesters and reduced sentences across multiple cases.
