US strikes on Iran’s Mashhad

A US strike on the city of Mashhad, where the funeral of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was to be held, has disrupted train services to Tehran.

On Thursday (July 9), Iran's state media IRRB reported that the railway line was targeted in the US strike. On the other hand, the country's Foreign Ministry said that two bridges were destroyed.

A spokesman for Iran's Islamic Republic Railways told the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency that efforts are being made to repair the line as soon as possible.

The line between the capital Tehran and the northeastern city of Mashhad is known to be Iran's busiest route.

Earlier on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said, "Last night we attacked Iran very hard, very hard. They will probably be attacked very hard tonight too."

Meanwhile, the plane carrying the body of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has arrived in the country's eastern holy city of Mashhad. In a video broadcast on Iranian media, the Mahan Air plane carrying the body is seen moving towards the airport after landing. Incidentally, Mashhad is the birthplace of Ali Khamenei.

Earlier, religious ceremonies were held in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala in Iraq to pay his last respects. Millions of people participated in these ceremonies.

After Khamenei's death, mourning and last respects have been ongoing across Iran and Iraq for the past six days. As part of this, funerals and mourning ceremonies are being organized in various places, including the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala in Iraq. The final phase of the program is being completed with the transfer of the coffin from Najaf to Mashhad.

Khamenei's chief of staff, Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, said that during his lifetime, Khamenei expressed his wish to be buried near the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad.