After days of public funeral ceremonies, Iran buried, this Thursday (9), its former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at the Shrine of Imam Reza, the country’s holiest, in Mashhad, in the northeast region, close to the borders with Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.
Under the eyes of a crowd of Iranians who traveled from all over the country for the final farewell, the funeral procession began at 2pm (local time) on Imam Reza Street, after being postponed due to the huge presence of mourners and repeated stops during the ceremonies in Iraq.
The ceremonies began on Saturday (4) and brought together millions of people, according to state media, with processions in Tehran, Qom and Iraq. In Najaf, an estimated 3.8 million mourners gathered around Imam Ali’s shrine for a huge farewell procession, before the body was transferred to Karbala along the Arbaeen route at the request of Iraqi religious scholars.
Khamenei was killed in a joint attack by the United States and Israel on Tehran on February 28, beginning the 40-day aggression against Iran. For the ceremony, Iranian authorities preserved his body and those of family members who also died in the attack for four months.
The funeral was only officially announced at the beginning of June, almost two months after the start of the ceasefire, for logistical and security reasons. Organizing committee spokesman Iman Attarzadeh said the bodies were preserved in accordance with religious norms, without giving details of the procedure.
According to Iraqi historian Omar Mohammed, in an interview with Fox Newsit is most likely that the body was kept in a cold store until burial. He explained that Shia Islamic law allows, in exceptional situations, to postpone burial and preserve the body through refrigeration.
Among the foreign guests attending the ceremony in Mashhad is Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, leader of Nigeria’s Shiite community. During the tributes, the crowd continued to call for revenge and the death of United States President Donald Trump.
Ali Khamenei was assassinated in an operation carried out by Israeli fighter jets. He was 88 years old and had held the post since 1989, when he replaced the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ruhollah Khomeini. The leader dedicated most of his life to keeping Iran independent of US influence. After his death, Tehran declared official mourning for 40 days and warned the world: “This great crime will never go unanswered.”
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
