The body of the martyred Leader departed Najaf Airport on Thursday bound for the holy city Mashhad, where the final stage of the funeral ceremonies and burial will take place at the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS).

The transfer follows historic and unprecedented funeral processions held over the past day in the Iraqi holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.

According to organizers, the body's arrival in Mashhad has been delayed by several hours because of the extraordinary size of the crowds and repeated pauses during the funeral processions, particularly in Karbala, where mourners repeatedly surrounded the cortege to pay their final respects.

As a result, the funeral procession in Mashhad, originally scheduled to begin at 8:00 am on Thursday, has been postponed until 2:00 pm local time.

The transfer to Iran comes after Iraq witnessed two of the largest funeral gatherings in its modern history. Following a massive farewell ceremony in Najaf, where an estimated 3.8 million mourners filled the streets around the holy shrine of Imam Ali (AS), the body of the martyred Leader was taken to Karbala via the Arbaeen route.

The funeral ceremonies in Iraq followed massive farewell gatherings in Tehran and Qom, where millions of Iranians bid farewell to the martyred Leader before his body was transferred to Iraq at the request of Iraqi religious scholars.

Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei was martyred in a joint US-Israeli strike on Tehran on February 28, 2026, at the outset of a 40-day war of aggression against Iran. His martyrdom sparked an outpouring of grief across Iran and throughout the region, with millions joining funeral ceremonies and carrying red flags as symbols of their demand for justice and retribution before his final burial in Mashhad.