Thousands of people accompanied the funeral procession of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, through the streets of the holy city of Najaf, Iraq, on Wednesday. This latest step comes after several days of ceremonies held in Iran following his death on February 28 in airstrikes carried out by Israel and the United States.
Throughout the procession, a dense crowd gathered to pay their final respects to the Iranian leader. Participants held up large portraits of Khamenei as his coffin, transported on a truck, slowly made its way through the city. Slogans such as "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" were also chanted by some of the demonstrators.
Najaf, a major center of global Shiism, is a key symbolic stop on this funeral procession. The city houses the mausoleum of Imam Ali, a central figure in Shiite Islam, which lends a particular religious dimension to the ceremonies organized in homage to the former Iranian supreme leader.
Iraqi authorities have deployed significant security measures to manage the event, which attracts pilgrims and worshippers from several countries. The transfer of the coffin to Iraq is part of a six-day procession that has already drawn huge crowds in Iran.
The death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei continues to stir strong emotions in the Shiite world, as regional tensions remain high following the strikes that killed the Iranian leader and revived concerns about the stability of the Middle East.
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