NAJAF, Iraq: Tens of thousands of mourners flooded the streets of Iraq’s holy city of Najaf on Wednesday, as the six-day funeral procession of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei crossed into Iraq.
Chants of “death to America” and “death to Israel” echoed through the streets as a heavily guarded truck bearing the late leader’s coffin slowly made its way through a sea of black-clad grief-stricken crowds.
Iraqi and Iranian flags fluttered alongside the banners of powerful Shia paramilitary groups, whose supporters turned out in massive numbers to pay their final respects.
Najaf holds profound symbolic weight for Shia Muslims globally, serving as the resting place of Imam Ali (RA), the cousin and son-in-law of Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
The coffin arrived at Najaf International Airport late Tuesday, receiving a high-profile official reception attended by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, alongside top-ranking state officials and senior clerical figures.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, accompanied by the top brass of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also arrived in the holy city to lead the delegation.
From Najaf, the procession is scheduled to move to Karbala before the body is repatriated to Iran for final burial.
Earlier on Monday, millions of mourners poured onto the streets of Tehran for the funeral procession of Khamenei, with state media describing the event as the largest public gathering in the country’s modern history.
Iranian state broadcaster Press TV and the Tasnim news agency reported that vast crowds lined a 10-kilometre route through the capital as the procession began after Khamenei’s body had lain in state for two days at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla religious complex.
Khamenei, who was assassinated on February 28 in Israeli airstrikes carried out with US intelligence support during the Middle East conflict, is being honoured with several days of nationwide mourning before his burial later this week.
Earlier, three sons of Ayatollah Khamenei attended funeral prayers on Sunday in Tehran, standing beside his coffin and those of four other family members, while his successor and son, Mojtaba Khamenei, remained absent from public view.
Iranian state television showed Mostafa, Meysam and Masoud Khamenei praying behind the coffins at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla, a sprawling religious complex where thousands of mourners gathered to pay their respects.
