Funeral ceremonies for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei moved into Iraq on Wednesday, July 8, as more than two million mourners packed the streets of the holy city of Najaf for the fifth day of nationwide and cross-border mourning, according to Iraqi authorities.
The day marked the first leg of the funeral proceedings held outside Iranian territory. Khamenei’s remains, along with those of several family members who were killed alongside him, were flown into Najaf International Airport on Tuesday night, where they were received by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior officials from both countries.
From there, the coffins were taken before dawn to the Imam Ali shrine, one of Shia Islam’s holiest sites, where funeral prayers were led by senior cleric Sayyid Muhammad Taqi al-Hakim. Mourners carried the coffins on their shoulders through the streets leading to the shrine, chanting religious slogans and reciting elegies. By early afternoon, the casket had been carried back into the shrine amid dense crowds, with the flag-draped coffin — Khamenei’s black turban resting on top — surrounded by mourners waving flags and chanting through the procession route.
Iraq’s government declared Wednesday a public holiday to allow citizens to take part in the ceremonies, and authorities tightened security across Najaf given the scale of the gathering.
The mourning has drawn pilgrims from across the border as well. Officials in Iran’s Khuzestan province said around 90,000 pilgrims crossed into Iraq over the preceding three days alone to attend the Najaf and Karbala ceremonies.
Separately in Karbala, members of Khamenei’s family were honoured at two revered shrines. His eldest son, Ayatollah Sayyed Mostafa Khamenei, visited the Imam Hussain shrine, while coffins of other family members were placed inside the shrine of Hazrat Abbas as mourners offered prayers.
Wednesday’s proceedings follow four earlier days of mourning inside Iran, beginning in Tehran on July 4 before continuing through the city of Qom. Khamenei and several relatives were killed on February 28 in a joint US-Israeli strike. The procession is set to continue on to Karbala before the convoy returns to Iran, where Khamenei will be laid to rest in a final burial in Mashhad on Thursday, July 9.
