Shafaq News-Baghdad
Iraqi PrimeMinister Ali al-Zaidi will receive the body of Iran's late Supreme LeaderAyatollah Ali Khamenei at Najaf International Airport on Tuesday evening, aninformed source told Shafaq News, with official reception ceremonies to be heldat the airport.
Najaf deploysmore than 25,000 security personnel, 100 ambulances, and a thousand medicalstaff ahead of Wednesday's public procession, which is scheduled to set out at6:00 a.m. from al-Sadr Teaching Hospital overpass toward the Shrine of Imam Alibin Abi Taleb. At least seven provinces declared Wednesday an official holidayto allow participation in the ceremonies.
Funeralprocessions for Khamenei got underway in Tehran on Monday morning, drawingmillions of participants under unprecedented security arrangements. Followingthe Najaf reception, the procession will continue to Karbala before the bodyreturns to Iran for burial at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad on July 9.
Khamenei waskilled on February 28 at the age of 86 during joint US-Israeli airstrikes onthe first day of the 2026 war.