Shafaq News- Babil

The planned funeral procession route of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iraq will begin in Najaf before moving to Imam Ali’s shrine, Karbala, and another site yet to be announced.

Hamid Al-Husseini, head of Iran’s religious delegation to Babil and a representative of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, told Shafaq News on Sunday that Khamenei’s body would then be transferred to Mashhad for burial in accordance with his will, describing the Iraq procession as an “exceptional event” expected to draw wide participation from provinces, tribes, and religious bodies.

Iran has announced funeral ceremonies for Khamenei beginning in Tehran on July 4, followed by Qom on July 7, Iraq on July 8, and burial in Mashhad on July 9.

Khamenei, who served as Iran’s supreme leader from 1989 until his death, was killed on February 28 during the opening day of US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran. Iranian authorities postponed funeral ceremonies during the conflict before announcing the multi-city procession. Mohammed, a participant from Yemen, described joining the funeral ceremonies as a “moral and religious duty,” citing what he called shared values and a history of cooperation between Iraqis and Iranians.

“Iraqi-Iranian ties are rooted in historical brotherhood,” Sheikh Mohammed Al-Amidi, a Babil tribal figure, told Shafaq News, adding that Middle Euphrates tribes were ready to help organize the ceremonies.