TEHRAN: The train service between Tehran and Mashhad has been suspended after United States strikes, state TV reported on Thursday (Jul 9), hours before late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was due to be buried in the eastern Iranian holy city.
The Islamic Republic of Iran Railways blamed “a criminal attack by the US-Israeli enemy” on the route and said it had dispatched repair teams, the state broadcaster reported, adding that road transport was being arranged for stranded passengers.
Earlier, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards accused the US of targeting “two bridges in the eastern provinces leading toward Mashhad in an effort to overshadow” Khamenei’s funeral, state TV said.
The burial in Mashhad, Khamenei’s hometown, will be the final act of a multi-day funeral, after Iran’s leader for more than three decades lay in state in Tehran before being processed through the Iranian capital and the holy Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala.
Khamenei was killed in the US-Israeli strikes on Feb 28 that began the Middle East war.
While Washington and Tehran have agreed a ceasefire and a memorandum of understanding towards a long-term peace deal, Thursday marked the second night in a row in which the two sides exchanged fire.
US Central Command said it had hit around 90 military targets, while the Revolutionary Guards said they had hit back against US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.