Massive crowds have filled Iraq’s Shia holy cities and their shrines to mourn Iran’s slain supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, during a funeral procession ahead of his burial back home.
At the gilded Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, mourners on Wednesday carried the coffin as it swayed from side to side, and many jostled and pressed forward in a desperate attempt to touch it.
In Karbala, mourners waved Iranian flags and held portraits of Khamenei, as they waited for the coffin to reach the main procession route.
Iran began on Saturday six days of funeral ceremonies, which included a series of locations linked to the religious, political and ideological pillars of the country.
It dedicated a day to neighbouring Iraq, which has close ties to Tehran and is home to some major shrines revered by Shia Muslims.
The ceremonies, which started in Tehran and passed through Iran’s holy city of Qom, will culminate with Khamenei’s burial on Thursday in his hometown of Mashhad in northeast Iran.
Iran hopes the marathon ceremonies will project strength and unity after the Middle East war, which started with US-Israeli strikes that killed Khamenei and several relatives on February 28.
The procession in Iraq came as the United States and Iran renewed hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz.
Prayers and shouts
Since the early morning, despite the scorching heat, vast crowds filled the streets of Najaf, as Khamenei’s coffin rode slowly on the back of a truck towards the shrine of the Prophet Mohammed’s son-in-law, Ali.
There, the call for prayer echoed through the vast courtyards where hundreds of clerics waited for hours before they held prayers over Khamenei’s remains.
From Najaf, the coffin was brought by land to Karbala, another Shia holy city, where many arrived in the early hours of the morning, or even a day before, to secure a spot in the main sites and their surrounding alleyways.
Water sprinklers offered some relief from the heat as mourners chanted in response to a voice blaring from loudspeakers, praising Iran, its leaders and the commanders of Tehran’s “axis of resistance”, which includes Iraqi armed groups.
The coffin entered Karbala in the evening, advancing slowly through massive crowds, heading towards the main procession route leading to the shrines.
