Funeral prayers in Iraq for Iranian supreme leader commence after body
arrives in holy city
[July 08, 2026]
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
NAJAF, Iraq (AP) — Funeral processions for Iran’s late Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei began Wednesday in the Iraqi city of Najaf with
thousands of mourners present.
The Islamic Republic's dayslong funeral for Khamenei began Saturday,
with authorities shutting down streets, airspace and daily life in
Tehran as mourners commemorate the life of the man who led Iran for
decades with an iron fist while confronting the West. His body will
later be taken from Najaf to the city of Karbala before returned to
Iran.
Talks between the United States and Iran appear to be on hold until
after the burial. However, strikes from both sides in the Persian Gulf
Tuesday and into Wednesday raised risks that the interim agreement to
end the monthslong war that engulfed the Mideast could break down. The
U.S. military attacked Iran early Wednesday after it said Tehran struck
three ships in the Strait of Hormuz, before Iran launched retaliatory
strikes on Kuwait and Bahrain.
The body of Khamenei arrived in the Iraqi city considered among the
holiest for millions of Shiite Muslims around the world on Tuesday,
alongside Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas
Araghchi, and other senior officials. They were welcomed by mourners and
supporters holding portraits of the late supreme leader, and others
performing self-flagellation on the streets.
Khamenei’s body was in a casket draped in the Islamic Republic’s flag,
encased in glass. Mourners waved flags of Iran as well as red and black
flags symbolizing mourning and revenge.
“We the people of Iraq will remain a thorn in the eyes of the enemies,”
said Jaafar Jawad, who is participating in the funeral. "His arrival to
us is the greatest possible honor, and God willing we will be loyal, and
repay a little of his due in the holy city of Najaf.”
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Mourners wave Shiite religious flags and a portrait of the late
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei outside the Imam Ali
Shrine on the eve of funeral ceremonies in Najaf, Iraq, Tuesday,
July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
The funeral prayers in Najaf will take place at the Shrine of Imam
Ali, the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, and will be led
by Muhammad Taqi al-Hakim, a senior scholar at the Najaf seminary.
In Karbala, also a holy city for Shiite Muslims where the Imam
Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet, was killed in 680 AD, Abdul
Mahdi al-Karbalaei, a representative of Iraq's top Shiite religious
authority will lead the prayers at the Imam Hussein Shrine.
Khamenei was killed in late February in wide-scale U.S. and Israeli
strikes on Iran. He was among several senior Iranian leaders killed
in strikes during the war. He was 86.
Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has yet to
make an appearance in the funeral ceremonies, which are unfolding
over several days. He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly
being wounded in the airstrike that killed his father.
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