MiG-29 fighter jets thundered across the skies above Mashhad as Iran staged a dramatic aerial tribute for its late Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. The military flypast accompanied the final leg of the funeral procession as Khamenei’s remains, along with members of his family, returned from Iraq to Iran for burial. The ceremony marked the culmination of a week-long mourning period that included farewell rites in Najaf and Karbala before the procession reached Mashhad. Khamenei is set to be laid to rest at a revered holy shrine, even as renewed tensions between the United States and Iran continue to cast a shadow over the region.
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