3 min readNew DelhiMar 6, 2026 05:30 AM IST The air inside the Iranian Embassy on Barakhamba Road in New Delhi is still, and the silence is broken only by the soft scratching of pen on paper. On a long table draped in black cloth is a line of glass vases, with clusters of white roses in each. Beyond the long table is a screen of black cloth; in front, there is a line of chairs upholstered in black. On the screen are pictures of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, watching over the table and the open book placed on it. The book is for visitors to mourn the late Supreme Leader of Iran and Iranian Shi’ism. Among those who came to pay their respects on Thursday was Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri who signed the Condolence Book on behalf of the Government of India. There were many others, ordinary citizens, for whom the assassination of the Ayatollah marked the end of an era of resistance. “The martyrdom of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is extremely painful …