Mourners bring Khamenei's body to Karbala shrines
Shafaq News- Karbala
The body of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei arrived at the shrines of Imam Hussein bin Ali and his brother al-Abbas in Iraq's holy city of Karbala on Thursday dawn, where mourners gathered alongside Iraqi and Iranian officials to take part in the funeral ceremonies.
The procession began at Sayyid Jawda Square in central Karbala before moving along Al-Abbas Street to the provincial government headquarters and then to the Qibla Gate of the Imam Hussein Shrine, Shafaq News correspondent reported.
Organizers scheduled a farewell prayer and visitation ceremony at the Imam Hussein Shrine, led by Sheikh Abdul Mahdi Al-Karbalaei, the official representative of Iraq's highest Shiite religious authority, Ali al-Sistani. The procession will then continue through the area between the two shrines to the al-Abbas Shrine for a second ceremony.
Large crowds delayed the procession's arrival in Karbala after mourners accompanied the convoy from the neighboring city of Najaf, while additional crowds gathered along the city's outskirts, the correspondent said.
The convoy also made repeated stops along the Najaf-Karbala road as residents gathered to greet the funeral procession with chants, slowing its progress toward the city.
Iranian media said that Iran has changed the funeral schedule for Khamenei, citing delays in the transfer of his body to the northeastern city of Mashhad.
Earlier on Wednesday, funeral ceremonies began in Najaf under heightened security and organizational measures, drawing massive crowds that exceeded expectations and strained arrangements made by the organizing committee and the Imam Ali Shrine administration.
