Tens of thousands of people offered funeral prayers for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and their entourage on Wednesday.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led the prayers, with tens of thousands of Iranians participating in the solemn event.
Raisi’s helicopter tragically crashed on Sunday on a foggy mountainside in northern Iran, while he was en route to Tabriz after attending a dam project inauguration near the Azerbaijan border.
A large-scale search and rescue mission ensued, receiving assistance from Turkey, Russia, and the European Union. State television confirmed Raisi’s death early Monday.
Tehran was adorned with banners commemorating Raisi as “the martyr of service,” with other messages honoring him as “the servant of the disadvantaged.” Residents were urged to join the funeral for “the martyr of service.”
State media reported that the processions, attended by international dignitaries, started at the university and proceeded to the expansive Enghelab Square in central Tehran.
The funeral ceremonies began on Tuesday in Tabriz and Qom, where tens of thousands of mourners dressed in black gathered.
Following the ceremonies in Tehran, the bodies will be transported to South Khorasan province, then to Raisi’s hometown of Mashhad in the northeast.
There, Raisi will be buried on Thursday evening after final rites at the Imam Reza shrine.
Ayatollah Khamenei, who holds supreme authority in Iran, declared five days of national mourning and appointed Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, 68, as interim president until the election on June 28 to select Raisi’s successor.
