Millions of mourners gathered in the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala on Wednesday to honor Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The procession marks a critical phase in the extensive funeral rites preceding his final burial at the Shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad, Iran.
Khamenei, alongside family members and senior officials, was killed in a US-Israeli airstrike on February 28. Following several days of mass commemorations in the Iranian cities of Tehran and Qom, the memorial services moved across the border to Iraq.
In Najaf, the procession began at the al-Kufa Bridge. A truck slowly carried the late leader's body through heavily congested streets toward the Shrine of Imam Ali one of Shia Islam's holiest sites. Black-clad mourners packed the thoroughfares waving Iranian flags, displaying photographs of the Ayatollah and holding red placards bearing revolutionary slogans.
To manage the massive influx of people, Iraqi officials and volunteers utilized their extensive experience in organizing major religious pilgrimages. Authorities have heavily prepared for the subsequent stages of the ceremony in Karbala.
These cross-border memorial services are the result of weeks of high-level logistical planning. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Baghdad last month to coordinate security and crowd management with Iraqi officials ensuring the safe transit of the processions between the two nations.
