Hashemi's coffin crosses border into Iran's holy city of Najaf
Iran – Iran launched a six-day mourning ceremony on the 4th of this month. The coffin of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei arrived in Najaf, Iraq’s holy city, on the 8th, and after completing local funeral rites, is expected to return to Mashhad, Iran’s holy city, tomorrow, the 9th, for burial. Najaf holds special significance for Shia Muslims worldwide, as it is the final resting place of Imam Ali, cousin and son-in-law of Prophet Mohammad.
On July 8, as the funeral procession of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei prepared to return home for burial, crowds filled the streets of Najaf, gathering before the solemn Shia shrine.
An aircraft carrying the body of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has also arrived in Najaf. On a day declared a public holiday, streets were adorned with large portraits of Khamenei, as many people vied to touch the coffin.
As the call to prayer echoed across the vast courtyard, hundreds of religious clerics wearing black and white headscarves waited for hours under the scorching sun before finally receiving the remains.
Karim Hassan testified that Khamenei’s passing was “a disaster, a tragedy,” and praised the “dignified homage” shown to this “incomparable leader.”
– "Tightly Bound" –
After Najaf, the coffin of Ali Khamenei was transported back to Karbala in the north, placed before the tombs of Imam Hussein and his brother Abbas.
Crowds waved Iranian flags and held portraits of Ali Khamenei, their voices rising in praise for Iran, its leadership, and the “Axis of Resistance”—a term used by Tehran to refer to armed groups in the region that support it, including those operating within Iraq.
"We bid you farewell," read one banner in the city, while another displayed a photo of the leader accompanied by the words: "The one who humiliated America." The bodies of relatives who perished with him in Tehran—including one daughter, one son-in-law, one daughter-in-law, and an infant granddaughter reportedly only 14 months old—were also transported but did not join the funeral procession. Iraqi authorities, closely aligned politically and religiously with Iran, had previously announced the deployment of large security forces.
General Ismail Qani, commander of Iran’s Quds Force, commended Baghdad’s “serious attention” to this historic event, stating it reflected the “deep spiritual ties between the two nations.”
He attended the memorial events in Iraq alongside Iran’s president and foreign minister.
In the 1980s, President Saddam Hussein suppressed Shia populations and later launched war against Iran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
After the fall of the Ba’ath regime in 2003, a Shia-led government took power in Baghdad, transforming the two countries into close allies. This government had to carefully balance relations between its two powerful allies—the United States and Iran—both of which remain adversaries. Today, Iran not only supports influential political figures but also armed groups that have participated in Middle Eastern conflicts and attacked U.S. facilities stationed in Iraq.
Following the state funeral, a burial ceremony will take place on Thursday in Mashhad, northeastern Iran—the birthplace of Ali Khamenei.
Source: rfi
Original: toutiao.com/article/1870210625873920/
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