Thousands of mourners gathered in Najaf on Wednesday as the funeral procession for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei passed through one of Iraq’s holiest Shiite cities.
The video shows crowds surrounding the truck carrying the coffin, with many reaching out to touch the vehicle. Others threw scarves and personal items to attendants, who brushed them against the coffin before returning them to their owners.
The practice is widely observed by many Shiite Muslims in Iran and Iraq, who regard objects touched to a coffin as blessed. Najaf is the first stop in Iraq before the funeral moves on to Karbala.
Khamenei’s body will then return to Iran for burial on Thursday at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace.