A final tribute. The funeral ceremonies for Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi begin this Tuesday in Tabriz, capital of the province of Eastern Azerbaijan, where he died in the crash of his helicopter on Sunday.
After Tabriz, Raisi’s body will be transferred to the holy city of Qom, south of Tehran, before leaving for the capital. Ayatollah Khamenei is due to lead prayers at a farewell ceremony planned in Tehran on Tuesday evening, ahead of large processions due to begin in the capital on Wednesday morning.
Raisi’s remains will then be taken Thursday morning to the province of South Khorasan (east), then to his hometown, Mashhad (northeast), where he will be buried Thursday evening.
Five days of mourning
The president was on his way back to Tabriz, after attending the joint inauguration of a dam with his Azeri counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, on their shared border, when his helicopter had to suffer a “hard landing”. The two other helicopters in his convoy lost contact with his aircraft due to the difficult weather conditions in this steep and wooded region.
Search and rescue operations began on Sunday afternoon, but the wreckage of the helicopter and the remains were not found until dawn on Monday. State television announced his death in the morning, saying that “the servant of the Iranian nation, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi, had reached the highest level of martyrdom.”
VIDEO. Iran: President Ebrahim Raïssi found dead after his helicopter crash
President Raisi died in the crash along with eight others, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, officials from East Azerbaijan province and the head of his security team. The chief of staff of the armed forces, Mohammad Bagheri, ordered an investigation into the causes of the crash.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared five days of mourning and tasked Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, 68, to serve as interim president ahead of presidential elections scheduled to be held in the 50 days and was set for June 28. Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri, who served as Amir-Abdollahian’s deputy, was named acting foreign minister.
Support for Palestinians reaffirmed
In Iran, rallies are being held in different cities to pay tribute to the late president and other victims. The ultraconservative Raïssi, 63, was considered one of the favorites to succeed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, aged 85. He had been in power since 2021, succeeding moderate Hassan Rouhani, at a time when Iran was rocked by a street protest movement, an economic crisis worsened by US sanctions and armed exchanges with arch-enemy Israel.
Between sober messages or open affliction, many countries have presented their condolences to the Islamic Republic. Palestinian Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah and Syria, all allies of the Islamic Republic, claiming to be the axis of resistance against Israel, paid tribute to the deceased president, going so far as to decree days of mourning.
In a speech hours before his death, Raisi reaffirmed Iran’s support for the Palestinians. Palestinian flags were raised alongside Iranian flags during mourning ceremonies on Monday.