The multi-day funeral for Iran's slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei extended into Iraqi territory on Wednesday, with mourners lining the streets of the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf as his coffin was taken through the city on a truck.
Demonstrators lining the route carried large portraits of the late leader while chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Israel," Reuters reported. Iranian and Iraqi flags were visible throughout the crowd, alongside the banners of Iran-aligned Iraqi militia groups whose members turned out to join the march.
#Martyred_Leader #Najaf https://t.co/fHXVGgk5wa pic.twitter.com/PhTewMXxTx
— Tehran Times (@TehranTimes79) July 8, 2026
Najaf's selection as a stop on the funeral route carries deep religious weight: the city is home to the shrine of Imam Ali, cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammad, and ranks among the most sacred sites in Shi'ite Islam worldwide.
Khamenei's remains had touched down at Najaf's international airport a day earlier, where Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani led an official welcome alongside senior government and religious figures.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and top commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also travelled to Iraq to join the procession, which is set to move next to Karbala, another of Shi'ite Islam's holiest cities, before Khamenei's body makes its way back to Iran for burial.
Khamenei, who had headed the Islamic Republic for more than three decades, was killed on 28 February in a combined US-Israeli air strike that triggered the war still being fought between Iran and the two countries.
ALSO READ: 'Era Of Bullying, Extortion Is Over': Iran's MB Ghalibaf Warns US After It Hits 80 Targets
The funeral proceedings began on 4 July with ceremonies in Tehran, later moving to Qom, and have reportedly pulled in crowds numbering in the millions, according to Iranian officials, before crossing into Iraq this week.
His son and successor as Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has stayed away from every stage of the funeral so far, a prolonged absence that has stirred questions over his condition and location.
The final stage of the ceremonies will see Khamenei flown home to Iran, where he is to be laid to rest at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, the city of his birth.
His burial will close out a week of mourning that has unfolded even as Tehran and Washington trade fresh strikes over the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring how the conflict that killed him remains far from resolved.
ALSO READ: Explosions, Fire Reported in Sirik, Qeshm As US Strikes Iran After Hormuz Attacks
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
