Iraqi forces alone to secure Khamenei funeral ceremonies in Iraq, says committee

BAGHDAD — Iraqi security forces will be solely responsible for securing the funeral ceremonies in Iraq for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, with no role for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the events’ spokesperson said Thursday.

Lt. Gen. Saad Maan, spokesperson for the committee organizing the ceremonies, told a news conference that Iraqi agencies were fully capable of carrying out the security plan for events expected to draw millions of mourners. He urged the public to cooperate with security and service agencies so the funeral would pass smoothly, and said a further news conference on Sunday or Monday would set out the full organizational details.

The committee has named Maan as its only authorized spokesperson and warned that websites, social media accounts and agencies claiming to speak for it are not official, saying all information on the timing, routes and locations of the processions would come through its media office. The Popular Mobilization Forces have opened accreditation for Iraqi and foreign media seeking to cover the events in Baghdad, Najaf and Karbala, requiring official badges for access to designated areas.

The government has approved an Iranian request to hold the procession in Iraq on July 8. Government spokesperson Haider al-Aboudi said Monday the government had approved Iran’s request to hold a funeral for Khamenei on that date. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Baghdad last week to coordinate the ceremonies, and Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani has said Khamenei’s body would be transferred to Iraq on July 8, with processions through Najaf and Karbala before burial, according to Iranian organizers, at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad the next day.

Khamenei was killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28.