Thousands in the holy city of Qom pay final respects to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Final respects for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the holy city of Qom. (IRNA/Rasoul Shojaei)

JAKARTA - Thousands of people crowded the last tribute to the late Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the holy city of Qom on Tuesday, before the body was taken to Iraq for the next series of honors.

The final tribute was part of a series of funerals that began last Friday in the capital Tehran.

Ayatollah Khamenei was killed in a US and Israeli attack on the capital Tehran on February 28, raising tensions in the Middle East.

Launching Al Arabiya with AFP (8/7), people carried red flags and placards praying for the death of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

Khamenei's body and those of four relatives, who were killed in the attack at the start of the Middle East War, are expected to arrive in Iraq on Tuesday evening.

The next series of funerals will take the coffin through the cities of Najaf and Karbala in Iraq on Wednesday.

Khamenei's body will be taken to the tomb of the Caliph Ali ibn Abi Thalib in Najaf, one of the most prestigious centers of Shiite studies in the world.

Then his body will be taken to the graves of Sayyidina Ali's sons, Hussein and Abbas in Karbala. The death of Hussein in the seventh century remains a central event in Shiite history and tradition.

Meanwhile, the commander of the Quds Force, the foreign operations wing of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Esmail Qaani praised "Baghdad's extensive planning for this historic event," which he said revealed the "depth" of the spiritual relationship between the two countries.

Iraqi authorities have announced a massive security deployment during the funeral.

Khamenei's final funeral, who ruled Iran for more than three decades until his death at the age of 86, will take place on Thursday in his hometown, Mashhad, a Shiite holy city in the country's northeast.