The funeral procession for the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic , Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, began Wednesday in Iraq, as crowds of mourners filled the streets of the city of Najaf, from where the coffin will be taken to the city of Karbala, before returning to Iran for burial in Mashhad, concluding a farewell journey that lasted nearly a week.
The Iranian leadership was keen to ensure that the ceremony reflected the stature of Khamenei, who led the Islamic Republic for nearly four decades and was killed in US-Israeli strikes on his residence in Tehran on February 28, strikes that heralded the outbreak of war in the Middle East.
Khamenei's funeral in Iraq coincided with renewed tensions between Iran and the United States over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which has been a key flashpoint during the war in the Middle East.
The US military announced it had launched strikes on more than 80 Iranian targets in response to attacks on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz attributed to Tehran, while the Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced it had targeted dozens of US military installations in Bahrain and Kuwait in response to the US strikes.
Khamenei's coffin arrived at Najaf airport on Tuesday night, where it was received by Iraqi officials including Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and leaders of the Coordination Framework Alliance, as well as other politicians and leaders.
He was also received by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Quds Force Commander Esmail Qaani. Mostafa, one of Khamenei's sons, was also present, while Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded him as Supreme Leader, has not appeared in public since his appointment in March.
Iraqi authorities declared Wednesday an official holiday. The public funeral procession in Najaf began at 6:00 AM (03:00 GMT).
In the city streets, a truck carried Khamenei’s coffin, wrapped in the Iranian flag. Crowds gathered around it, some trying to approach and touch it, while others carried pictures of the deceased leader, as well as pictures of Iranian leaders and others from the “axis of resistance” led by Iran.
The funeral procession will end in the city of Najaf at the shrine of Imam Ali, where hundreds of sheikhs are waiting to pray over the body before it is transferred to the city of Karbala.
Khamenei’s coffin and the bodies of four members of his family who were killed with him in the strikes lay in state, beginning on Friday at Tehran’s Grand Mosque where official delegations and large crowds paid their respects, before setting off on Monday in a funeral procession that made its way through central Tehran, amid crowds of people dressed in black and carrying red flags calling for revenge.
From Tehran, Khamenei was taken to the holy city of Qom, where huge crowds gathered to pay their respects.
Iranian state media estimated the number of participants in the ceremonies over the past few days to be in the millions, although the authorities have not yet released any official estimates.
“The power of America and Israel has been broken.”
Murtadha al-Maliki, 27, who is participating in the funeral procession from the city of Amarah in southern Iraq, said, “I spent last night in the street waiting for the honor of participating” in the funeral.
He added: “This man has done a great service to Iraq, for he stood with us during the ISIS attack… and he stopped Israel in its tracks.”
After Najaf, Khamenei’s body will be flown to Karbala, about 60 kilometers to the north, in another funeral procession that will conclude at the Al-Husseiniya Shrine, the tomb of Imam Hussein and the shrine of his brother Abbas.
Hundreds of stalls lined both sides of the road in the two cities, where volunteers would provide food and drink to mourners, in a tradition reminiscent of the “Hussein processions” that provide services to visitors of the shrine during the commemoration of Ashura and the month of Muharram.
In addition to its religious character, the ceremonies in Iraq retain a political dimension due to the complex relationship between the two countries.
Haider Jaafar, who came from Basra to Najaf, said, “I expect millions of Iraqis to participate in the funeral procession, even those who are not loyal to Iran,” because Khamenei “was killed by Israeli-American hands.”
He continued: “Now we believe that Iran is our depth, and if we lose it, Israel will have triumphed over the entire region.”
