DUBAI, UAE - Kataib Hezbollah Secretary-General Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi on Friday said the large turnout at the funeral of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iraq demonstrated public support for the “Islamic resistance,” while warning Iraqi political leaders and government officials against straying from what he described as the will of the Iraqi people.

Millions of mourners flocked to Najaf and Karbala earlier this week for funeral ceremonies honoring the late Iranian leader after his body was brought to Iraq’s holy Shiite cities before being transferred back to his final resting place in his hometown of Mashhad.

Iraq’s Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) said on Thursday that more than 10 million people attended funeral processions for Khamenei in Iraq.

In a statement, Hamidawi said the funeral procession showed that Iraqis remained committed to the resistance movement and its weapons. “The proud Iraqi people proved during the historic funeral procession of the leader of the Axis of Resistance that they are a people of resistance and jihad,” he said.

Hamidawi described the turnout as a “decisive popular referendum” in which Iraqis renewed their support for the “Islamic resistance and its sacred weapons.”

The faction leader highlighted the group’s history of armed activities during the war on terrorism and the US invasion, vowing that Kataib Hezbollah would remain loyal to the path established by Ali Khamenei, and pledging allegiance to Khamenei’s successor, his son Mojtaba, whom he did not mention by name.

Hamidawi vowed that the group would remain “loyal soldiers” and a “shield” for the resistance, while remaining committed to what he described as the path of resistance and opposition to the dominance of “the arrogant and the oppressors, headed by America.”

He also addressed Iraqi political leaders and government officials, urging them to follow what he described as the will of the Iraqi people. “We draw the attention of political leaders and government officials to the necessity of complying with the will of the proud Iraqi people, the people of resistance and jihad,” he said.

He warned against “drifting behind arrogant projects” or aligning with their agendas, adding that the Iraqi people would respond if the country’s direction changed. “We warn them that our people will have their say and make their decision if the compass deviates,” Hamidawi said.

Kataib Hezbollah is among several pro-Iran armed groups that have rejected government calls to hand over their weapons, despite ongoing efforts by Baghdad to consolidate all arms under state control.

In June, Iraq’s four presidencies reaffirmed their commitment to “the principle of restricting arms to the state authority as a fundamental pillar of the rule of law and state authority,” while praising factions that agreed to relinquish their weapons and distance themselves from the PMF.

The leaders said such moves “enhance security and stability and preserve the country’s unity, sovereignty, and independent national decision-making.” 

While groups including Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Kataib al-Imam Ali, and Muqtada al-Sadr’s Saraya al-Salam have moved toward integration with state institutions, Kataib Hezbollah, Ashab al-Kahf, Harakat al-Nujaba and Saraya Awliya al-Dam have rejected calls to surrender their weapons.