NAJAF/TEHRAN – The aircraft carrying the body of the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and members of his family landed at Najaf International Airport Tuesday evening, as Iraq prepares for historic funeral ceremonies in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zaydi was present at the airport to receive the body and the high-level Iranian delegation led by President Masoud Pezeshkian, who departed Tehran for Najaf on Tuesday evening to participate in the ceremonies.
Streets, intersections, and various areas of Najaf and Karbala have been adorned with images of the martyred Leader. One banner in particular has drawn attention, welcoming him with the words: “Welcome, O humiliator of America and normalization.”
Iranian Consul General in Karbala Jafar Safari described the funeral ceremonies in Iraq as not merely a religious and national ritual, but an event with strategic and political consequences that will have profound implications for the resistance front and regional actors. He stated that the funeral sends a clear and explicit message to the enemies of the resistance front, especially the United States and the Zionist regime.
IRGC Quds Force Commander Brigadier General Esmail Qaani issued a message stating that the unprecedented funeral of the martyred Leader in Iraq will strengthen the red line of blood vengeance.
“The unprecedented funeral of our martyred Leader in Iraq, like the magnificent funerals of martyrs Soleimani and Abu Mahdi, will strengthen the clenched fists of the two nations against American plots and make the red line of blood vengeance more prominent,” Qaani declared.
Qais al-Khazali, Secretary-General of Iraq’s Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq movement, called on all segments of the Iraqi nation to participate, emphasizing that all of Iraq—Muslims and Christians, Sabaeans and Yazidis, Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen and Shabaks, Shia and Sunni—will unite to bid farewell to the martyred Leader.
According to the schedule, the official ceremonies in Najaf will begin at 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday, with the main funeral procession starting at 4:00 p.m. from Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis Street. The primary responsibility for implementing the ceremony falls on the Popular Mobilization Forces, with 11 Iraqi provinces declared closed on the day of the event.
The Iraqi government has declared a nationwide holiday, and Iranians have also traveled to Iraq in large numbers to bid farewell to their martyred Leader.