Shafaq News- Najaf
Health concerns will prevent Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, Grand AyatollahAli al-Sistani, from leading funeral prayers for late Iranian Supreme LeaderAli Khamenei, according to a message from Mohammed Reza al-Sistani, thecleric’s son.
Iran’s semi-official Fars News reported that al-Sistani sent a letter tothe office of the Supreme Leader, explaining his father’s absence from thefuneral.
Khamenei was killed on February 28 in a joint US-Israeli strike on hiscompound in central Tehran, ending a 37-year tenure as supreme leader.
Iraq’s role in the funeral is confined to the provinces of Najaf andKarbala, two cities central to Shiite religious life, where organizers expectmass participation.
Under the planned schedule, Khamenei’s body will be flown from theIranian holy city of Qom to Najaf International Airport before being taken tothe Imam Ali Shrine for farewell rites. The procession will continue toKarbala, home to the shrine of Imam Hussein, one of Shiite Islam’s holiestsites, passing along Al-Abbas Street to the area between the two shrines. Fromthere, the body will return to Najaf International Airport for transfer to theIranian city of Mashhad, where Khamenei is to be buried at the Imam Reza Shrineon July 9.
: 4th day funeral procession for Khamenei in Tehran