Iraq's holy cities host funeral processions for Khamenei

Crowds thronged the streets of Najaf on Wednesday as the coffin of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei moved through the holy city in a procession devoted to Iraq, home to Shia Islam's most sacred shrines.

Iran began six days of public funeral ceremonies for Khamenei on Saturday, including a dedicated day to neighbouring Iraq, a Shia powerhouse with close ties to Tehran.

The Islamic Republic hopes the marathon ceremonies will project strength and unity after the Middle East war, which started with U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed Khamenei and several relatives on February 28.

The procession in Najaf came as the United States and Iran renewed hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz, putting more pressure on a deal to end the war.

The U.S. military said it had struck dozens of Iranian targets in response to Tehran's attacks on three ships in Hormuz, with Iran's Revolutionary Guards later saying they had hit U.S. military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait.

After a massive procession in Iran's holy city of Qom, Iraqi officials and senior politicians received the remains of Khamenei on Tuesday night at Najaf International Airport in the presence of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and one of the late leader's sons.

Iraqi authorities declared Wednesday a public holiday, with procession ceremonies starting at 6:00 a.m. (0300 GMT) in Najaf.

A heavy security deployment was in place as the crowds swelled, with some people pushing close to touch Khamenei's coffin as it rode in the back of a truck en route to the shrine of Imam Ali, the Prophet Mohammed's son-in-law and the first Shia Imam.

At the shrine, dozens of clerics stood ready to pray over the coffin before it was carried on to the city of Karbala.

Khamenei's final burial will take place on Thursday in his hometown of Mashhad in northeast Iran.

His eldest son, Mostafa Khamenei, was present at the airport on Tuesday, but his successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, named supreme leader shortly after his father's killing, has not appeared in public and has only communicated through written statements since his nomination.

AFP