ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq has completed all logistical and security preparations for the funeral procession of Iran's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei (1939 - 2026) in the Iraqi shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala, a senior Iraqi security official announced on Monday, noting that more than 3,000 media workers are expected to cover the event.
"All preparations for the funeral procession of martyr Ali Khamenei in the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf have been completed," head of Iraq's Security Media Cell (SMC), Lieutenant General Saad Maan, said at a press conference, adding that a committee has been formed to "supervise the plan for the procession."
Maan detailed that the procession would begin from Najaf International Airport "with official attendance and a high-level delegation" from Iran, and would continue to the shrine of the first Shia Imam, Ali ibn Abi Talib, in the southern shrine province.
The procession is then set to continue to the shrine province of Karbala, "where a traffic plan has been designed along the route connecting the two provinces to ensure smooth traffic flow during the funeral ceremonies," the head of the SMC added..
Khamenei was killed on February 28, on the first day of the joint US-Israeli aerial campaign launched against Iran, which also killed several of the country's top leaders and commanders.
While several previous dates for the key event were set in previous weeks, the six-week Iran war and the ensuing intermittent tit-for-tat military escalations and maritime measures by Washington and Tehran in regional waters appear to have hindered it.
The bodies of the late supreme leader and several others killed alongside him were transferred to a mega mosque in the Iranian capital on Friday, a day before an official funeral ceremony took place Saturday and Sunday, ahead of a mass funeral procession that began Monday in Tehran.
Further rites are scheduled in Iraq's southern holy cities of Karbala and Najaf in the coming days, with Khamenei's body expected to arrive in the country on Tuesday evening.
According to Maan, the ceremonies in Iraq will see "participation of all security agencies" and will be covered by "more than 600 Arab and foreign journalists" and "over 3,000 Iraqi, Arab, and foreign media workers."
On Thursday, the head of the SMC had pointed out that preliminary estimates indicate "broad public participation that may reach millions of citizens and visitors from inside and outside Iraq," which necessitated “a comprehensive security plan with the participation of various ministries and security and service agencies.”
Khamenei’s final burial is set to take place in the northern shrine city of Mashhad in northern Iran on July 9.
