Millions of mourners gathered in Karbala, Iraq, on Wednesday for the sixth day of funeral rites for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a U.S.-Israeli strike on Feb. 28 after 37 years as Iran's supreme leader. The casket, received at Najaf International Airport on Tuesday evening, made stops in Najaf and Karbala before its expected return to Iran for final burial in Mashhad on Thursday.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi attended the official reception, while Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders joined the procession. Iraq declared Wednesday a public holiday. Footage showed the coffin transported in a refrigerated truck bearing Kesko branding; the Finnish company denied involvement, calling it a breach of service agreements.
An estimated 20 million people are expected for the Tehran procession, though Khamenei's son Mojtaba has not been seen publicly since his father's death. A 40-day mourning period coincides with a deadline for U.S.-Iran negotiations.