Over 4 mln people attend farewell ceremony for slain Iranian leader Khamenei in Karbala

Over 4 mln people attend farewell ceremony for slain Iranian leader Khamenei in Karbala Representatives from various Iraqi provinces, as well as delegations from numerous Arab countries and regional and international organizations that had been unable to attend the farewell ceremony in Iran, traveled to Karbala to pay their respectsRABAT, July 8. /TASS/. More than four million pilgrims took part in farewell ceremonies for Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the Iraqi holy city of Karbala, according to the command of the Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces (Al-Hashd al-Shaabi), which is helping maintain order during the mourning events. "The number of participants in the mourning procession in holy Karbala has exceeded four million," Al-Hashd al-Shaabi said in a statement reported by the INA news agency. Earlier, Khamenei's coffin was transferred from the Iraqi city of Najaf to Karbala. According to the latest figures cited by INA, about 3.8 million people took part in mourning processions held in Najaf on the morning of July 8. Authorities removed the entrance gates to the Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas shrines in Karbala to eliminate bottlenecks for the crowds of mourners. Representatives from various Iraqi provinces, as well as delegations from numerous Arab countries and regional and international organizations that had been unable to attend the farewell ceremony in Iran, traveled to Karbala to pay their respects. According to the Religious Affairs Committee of Karbala Province, after the mourning ceremonies conclude, Khamenei's coffin will be returned to Najaf and then transported to Iran. Available information indicates that the coffin will be flown from Najaf International Airport to Mashhad on a special flight scheduled to depart between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. local time. Farewell ceremonies for Khamenei, who was killed on February 28, began in Tehran on July 3. For several days, the ayatollah's body lay in state at Tehran's Mosalla, the capital's largest religious and public complex, where members of the public were able to pay their respects. A mourning procession took place in Tehran on July 6, after which the remains were transferred to Iran's main religious center, the city of Qom. On the evening of July 7, Khamenei's coffin was taken to Iraq for farewell ceremonies in Najaf and Karbala. He is due to be buried in his hometown of Mashhad in Iran on July 9. 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