Funeral prayers for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei began on Wednesday in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf, where thousands of mourners gathered to pay their final respects.
Iran's dayslong funeral ceremonies for Khamenei began on Saturday, with authorities shutting down streets, airspace and much of daily life in Tehran as mourners honoured the leader who ruled the Islamic Republic for decades while maintaining a confrontational stance toward the West.
After the ceremonies in Najaf, Khamenei's body will be taken to the holy city of Karbala before being returned to Iran for burial.
Meanwhile, negotiations between the United States and Iran remain on hold until after the burial. However, renewed military exchanges in the Persian Gulf have raised concerns that the interim agreement aimed at ending the months-long conflict could unravel.
The United States launched strikes on Iran early Wednesday after accusing Tehran of attacking three commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran later retaliated by launching strikes targeting Kuwait and Bahrain.
Khamenei's body arrived in Najaf on Tuesday accompanied by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and other senior officials.
They were welcomed by large crowds carrying portraits of the late supreme leader, while some mourners performed traditional self-flagellation rituals in the streets.
The body was placed in a glass-covered coffin draped with the Iranian national flag. Mourners waved Iranian flags as well as red and black flags symbolising mourning and revenge.
"We the people of Iraq will remain a thorn in the eyes of the enemies," said mourner Jaafar Jawad. "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."
The funeral prayers in Najaf are being held at the Shrine of Imam Ali, cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, and are being led by senior Najaf seminary scholar Muhammad Taqi al-Hakim.
Later, prayers will also be held in Karbala at the Imam Hussein Shrine, where Abdul Mahdi al-Karbalaei, a representative of Iraq's top Shiite religious authority, will lead the ceremony.
Khamenei, 86, was killed in late February during large-scale US and Israeli strikes on Iran. He was among several senior Iranian officials killed during the conflict.
Iran's new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has not yet appeared publicly during the funeral ceremonies, which are continuing over several days. He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the airstrike that killed his father.