WANA (Mar 01) – Following the announcement of the assassination of Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, the Iraqi government and the country’s political and religious movements issued a range of official and public reactions—responses that have resonated widely across Iraqi cities and the broader regional landscape.

 

According to official Iraqi sources, the cities of Najaf, Karbala, Maysan, Basra, Diwaniyah, and Wasit declared Sunday an official holiday in response to the event. Meanwhile, the city of Babil witnessed large public mourning ceremonies.

 

At the political level, Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of the Sadrist Movement, along with Iraq’s Shiite Coordination Framework, issued separate statements offering condolences to the people of Iran and the wider Muslim world, emphasising the Iranian leader’s religious and political role in regional dynamics.

 

The Government of Iraq also declared three days of national mourning. Government spokesperson Bassem al-Awadi, in an official statement, expressed solidarity with the Iranian people and described the event as an act contrary to humanitarian principles and in violation of international laws and charters. The statement further stressed the urgent need to halt military actions and de-escalate tensions in the region.

On the ground, groups of Iraqi citizens gathered in the streets of Baghdad following the news of the Iranian leader’s assassination. Reports indicate that demonstrators moved toward Baghdad’s Green Zone, while security measures were intensified around foreign diplomatic missions. Media sources also reported scattered clashes between security forces and protesters along routes leading to the area.

 

These developments reflect the high sensitivity of Iraq’s political and social climate to events in Iran, and the consequences of this incident may have broader repercussions for the security and diplomatic balance of the Middle East.