NAJAF, Iraq, July 9 (V7N) – Hundreds of thousands of mourners gathered in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf on Wednesday to pay their final respects to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose funeral procession entered Iraq as part of a six-day memorial following his death in a joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Feb. 28.

According to Al Jazeera, the Iraqi government declared a public holiday to accommodate the massive turnout, with crowds filling the streets of Najaf from early morning.

Khamenei's coffin was carried through the city on a large truck as mourners waved Iranian and Iraqi flags, held portraits of the late leader and chanted anti-U.S. and anti-Israel slogans.

The coffin arrived at Najaf International Airport on Tuesday night, where it was received by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi, senior political and religious leaders, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Khamenei's eldest son, Mostafa Hosseini Khamenei.

Notably absent from the ceremony was Iran's newly appointed Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who was reportedly injured in the same attack that killed his father. His condition has not been publicly disclosed.

The funeral procession later passed through the shrine of Imam Ali, one of Shiite Islam's holiest sites. Al Jazeera correspondent Jack Hewson described the gathering as one of the largest the city has witnessed, saying it was difficult to estimate the crowd but that it undoubtedly numbered in the hundreds of thousands.

Many mourners travelled long distances to participate. Iraqi citizen Mohammed Al-Bayati said he joined the procession to honour a leader who had "stood firmly against the United States and Israel throughout his life."

Following ceremonies in Najaf, the coffin was taken to the holy city of Karbala, home to the shrines of Imam Hussein and Hazrat Abbas. Iran's Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani described the event as a symbol of the deep spiritual ties between Iran and Iraq.

Khamenei's body is scheduled to be returned to his hometown of Mashhad in northeastern Iran on Thursday, where he will be laid to rest.

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