A huge crowd in Iraq’s capital Baghdad followed the coffin of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a US air strike on Thursday.
Soleimani was the architect of Iran’s Middle East operations and the country has vowed to take “severe revenge”.
The funeral procession in Iraq marked the beginning of days of mourning for Soleimani.
His body is to be returned to Iran for a funeral and burial in his home town.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has promised members of the dead commander’s family that Americans will “feel the impact” of their “criminal act… for years ahead”.
The crowds in Baghdad were also there to mourn the death of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iraqi who commanded the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah group and effectively led the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) – an umbrella of militias in Iraq dominated by groups aligned with Iran.
Mourners gathered in Baghdad from the early hours, waving Iraqi and militia flags and chanting “death to America”.
The funeral began at the city’s Al Muthana Airport, then moved to the gate of the heavily fortified Green Zone, where the US embassy is located.
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As the procession snaked through the streets, some mourners carried portraits of Soleimani while others held portraits of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Later, the procession left for the Shia Muslim holy cities of Karbala and Najaf.
Reports say the bodies of Soleimani and four other Iranians killed in the air strike will be flown on Saturday evening to Iran, which has declared three days of mourning for the assassinated general. His funeral in Iran is to be held on Tuesday.
Some Iraqis, conversely, celebrated in Baghdad’s streets at the news of Soleimani’s death. He was accused of orchestrating violent crackdowns on peaceful pro-democracy protests there in recent months.
Its leaders have pledged to avenge the death of the man who led the Quds Force, an elite unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Visiting Soleimani’s family members at their house in Tehran, President Rouhani said: “The Americans really did not realise what grave error they have committed.
“Revenge for his blood will be exacted on that day when the filthy hands of America will be cut off forever from the region.”
Ayatollah Khamenei said earlier that revenge would be “forceful” while a senior IRGC general, Gholamali Abuhamzeh, said 35 US targets had been identified in the region “as well as Tel Aviv” – the most populous city in Israel.
He also raised the prospect of attacks on US warships in the Gulf.
Simmering US-Iranian hostilities had escalated rapidly last week after the US conducted air strikes in Iraq and Syria against Kataib Hezbollah, which the US blamed for an earlier rocket attack that killed an American civilian contractor. Pro-Iranian militia attacked the US embassy in Baghdad in response.
In a letter to the UN Security Council, responding to the strike on Soleimani, Iran’s UN ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi said that Iran reserved the right to self-defence under international law.
Analysts said Iran could deploy cyber-attacks against the US, or attempt to strike US military targets or interests in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the US says it has deployed an additional 3,000 troops to the Middle East to help respond to any backlash from the strike.
US citizens have been advised to leave Iraq immediately via any means possible.
