Memorial ceremonies held in Iraq for Iran’s late supreme leader

Millions of mourners gathered in Iraq’s holy cities of Najaf and Karbala on Wednesday for the funeral processions of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Initial reports indicated that over 2.3 million people participated in the first hour of the procession in Najaf that began early on Wednesday morning, the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.

To facilitate the ceremonies, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi declared Wednesday as a holiday across all state institutions.

The casket of the late Iranian supreme leader is slated to move later Wednesday to neighboring Karbala, where Abdul-Mahdi al-Karbalai, representative of Iraq’s Supreme Religious Authority, will lead prayers at the Imam Hussein Shrine.

In Karbala, a city in central-southern Iraq, the Iraqi government was holding the final rituals of the mourning activities for the deceased Iranian leader.

On Wednesday, nearly one million people from Iraq, Iran, and neighboring countries traveled to Najaf and Karbala to participate in the commemorative events.

Meanwhile, in the early hours of Wednesday, the U.S. military launched a new round of strikes against Iran. At the mourning sites, large crowds were seen waving Iraqi and Iranian flags while chanting anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans. The demonstrators demanded that foreign military forces led by the United States withdraw from Iraq and cease their aggression against Iran.

“The people gathered here today have sent a clear message to the arrogant United States. America has repeatedly shown arrogance and disrespect. Time and again during negotiations, they have continuously deceived us and launched attacks. This is not the first time,” said a Iraqi citizen.

“On my way here, I read the news that Trump claimed the United States will continue striking Iran. However, Iran remains firmly prepared to face any storm. As a country that has been subjected to aggression, Iran will not be brought down. As the whole world has seen, Iran has always stood firm. These strikes will not weaken the will of Iran,” said another Iraqi citizen.

Funeral ceremonies for Khamenei have been held from Friday to Tuesday in Iran’s capital Tehran and its central city of Qom. He will be laid to rest in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad on Thursday, which the Iranian government has declared a day of national mourning.

Khamenei was killed in a U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran on Feb. 28.

Rescuers on Thursday stepped up their efforts to evacuate thousands of students stranded at a flood-hit education park in the city of Guigang, south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region with powered pontoon bridges, after days of torrential rainfall inundated multiple schools there.

The flooding, triggered by torrential rain that began on Monday under the shadow of Typhoon Maysak, flooded parts of the education park, where several schools were severely affected.

By Thursday, floodwaters have reached the depths of 6 to 7 meters in the worst-hit areas, while even the shallowest sections left the ground floors of teaching buildings submerged.

Power and water supplies were cut off at multiple schools, and internet connectivity remained unstable, leaving more than 10,000 students stranded inside the education park.

Rescue teams have delivered emergency supplies, including drinking water, food and medicines, to the affected students.

Meanwhile, more than 40 professional and volunteer rescue teams have joined the relief operation, according to local authorities.

As of Thursday, an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 students still need to be evacuated, and rescue workers are planning to complete the evacuation later in the day by using powered pontoon bridges and rescue boats.