Masses packed the streets of Najaf on Wednesday as the coffin of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was carried through the holy city in a solemn procession, marking Iraq's tribute to the late leader in the heartland of Shia Islam.
Iran launched six days of nationwide funeral ceremonies for Khamenei on Saturday, dedicating one day to neighboring Iraq, a Shia-majority nation with deep religious and political ties to Tehran.
The Islamic Republic hopes the extended ceremonies will project resilience and national unity following the Middle East war, which began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28 that killed Khamenei and several of his relatives.
The procession in Najaf unfolded as tensions between the United States and Iran escalated again in the Strait of Hormuz, further complicating efforts to secure a ceasefire and end the conflict.
The U.S. military said it struck dozens of Iranian targets in retaliation for Tehran's attacks on three commercial vessels in the strategic waterway. Iran's Revolutionary Guard later said it had launched strikes against U.S. military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait.
Following a massive funeral procession in the Iranian holy city of Qom, Khamenei's remains were flown to Najaf International Airport late Tuesday, where Iraqi officials and senior political leaders received the coffin alongside Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and one of the late leader's sons.
Iraqi authorities declared Wednesday a public holiday, with procession ceremonies starting at 6:00 a.m. (3:00 a.m. GMT) in Najaf.
A heavy security presence was in place as the crowds swelled, with some mourners pushing forward to touch Khamenei's coffin as it rode in the back of a truck en route to the Shrine of Imam Ali, the Prophet Muhammad's son-in-law and the first Shia imam.
At the shrine, dozens of clerics stood ready to pray over the coffin before it was carried on to the city of Karbala.
Khamenei's final burial will take place Thursday in his hometown of Mashhad in northeastern Iran.
His eldest son, Mostafa Khamenei, was present at the airport Tuesday, but his successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, who was named supreme leader shortly after his father's killing, has not appeared in public and has communicated only through written statements since his appointment.
Iraqi mourner Mohammed al-Bayati, 30, who traveled for hours to Najaf, said it was "an opportunity not to be missed to participate in the funeral of the person who challenged the power of America and Israel."
Najaf is the main center of Shia religious seminaries and is also home to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq's top Shia religious authority.
Many senior Shia clerics have studied, taught or lived there, including Khamenei's predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
After Najaf, Khamenei's body will be flown to Karbala, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) north, for another procession that will culminate at the shrines of Imam Hussein and his brother Abbas.
The death of Hussein, the third Shia imam, in the seventh century remains central to Shia history and draws millions of pilgrims from around the world to Karbala and Najaf every year.
In Karbala, one banner read, "We bid you farewell," while another displayed Khamenei's photo with the caption, "The one who humiliated America."
In both cities, hundreds of volunteer-run stalls serving food and drinks to mourners lined the procession routes.
The bond between Iraq and neighboring Iran, both Shia-majority countries, runs deep and is shaped by religion and politics.
Iranian state media quoted Esmail Qaani, head of the Guards' Quds Force, as saying: "The extensive planning for this historical event by the Iraqi government and people show the depth of the spiritual bond between the two great nations of Iraq and Iran to the whole world."
Ties between Iran and Iraq were not always strong.
In the 1980s, Iraq's late ruler Saddam Hussein, who repressed the country's Shia population, went to war with the Islamic Republic.
But the two countries have become close allies since Saddam's fall in 2003 following the U.S.-led invasion and the rise of Shia-dominated governments in Baghdad.
Today, Iran backs influential politicians as well as armed groups, some of which joined the Middle East war after Khamenei's death in support of Iran by attacking U.S. facilities in Iraq.
Haidar Jaafar, who traveled from the southern city of Basra to Najaf, said he expected millions of people to attend Khamenei's procession, "even those who do not align with Iran, just because he was killed by Israeli-American hands."
