Funerary procession to be held for late president in Iran’s northwest – Bd24live

3

Iranians gathered on Tuesday to mourn on the funerary procession of president Ebrahim Raisi within the northwestern metropolis of Tabriz, the capital of East Azerbaijan province the place he died unexpectedly in a helicopter crash.

The helicopter misplaced communication whereas it was on its manner again to Tabriz after Raisi attended a joint inauguration of a dam along with his Azeri counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, on their frequent border.

An enormous search and rescue operation began Sunday afternoon when two different helicopters in Raisi’s convoy misplaced contact along with his plane amid harsh climate circumstances within the mountainous area.

State TV early Monday broke the information of his loss of life, saying “the servant of the Iranian nation, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi, has achieved the best degree of martyrdom”, displaying photos of him as a voice recited the Koran.

Killed alongside the Iranian president have been Overseas Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, members of the provincial authorities of East Azerbaijan and his safety staff.

Iran’s navy chief of employees Mohammad Bagheri on Monday ordered a probe into the reason for the crash.

Following the affirmation of Raisi’s loss of life, worldwide condolences poured in whereas folks in cities throughout the Islamic republic gathered to mourn the late president and his companions.

1000’s of mourners holding portraits of Raisi gathered Monday at central Valiasr Sq. within the capital Tehran.

– Nationwide mourning –

Supreme chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final authority in Iran, declared 5 days of nationwide mourning and assigned vice chairman Mohammad Mokhber, 68, to imagine interim duties forward of elections.

State media later introduced the presidential election could be held on June 28.

Iran’s prime nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri, who served as deputy to Amir-Abdollahian, was tapped to function the appearing international minister.

After leaving Tabriz, Raisi’s physique will arrive in Iran’s Shiite clerical centre of Qom Tuesday earlier than being moved to Tehran.

Khamenei is because of maintain prayers at a farewell ceremony in Tehran on Tuesday evening, forward of main processions because of start on Wednesday morning.

Raisi will then be taken to Southern Khorasan province on Thursday morning and later to his hometown of Mashhad, the place he can be buried on Thursday night after funerary rites.

The ultraconservative Raisi, 63, had been in workplace since 2021, a time throughout which Iran was rocked by mass protests, an financial disaster deepened by US sanctions, and armed exchanges with arch-enemy Israel.

Raisi succeeded the average Hassan Rouhani, at a time when the financial system was battered by US sanctions over Iran’s contested nuclear programme.

Condolences flooded in from Palestinian militant group Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and Syria, all members of the so-called “axis of resistance” towards Israel and its allies, at a time of excessive Center East tensions over the Gaza battle.

The battle within the Palestinian territory despatched tensions hovering and a sequence of escalations led to Tehran launching lots of of missiles and drones at Israel in April.

It got here in response to an earlier air strike extensively blamed on Israel that levelled Tehran’s Damascus consulate and killed two Revolutionary Guards generals.

In a speech hours earlier than his loss of life, Raisi emphasised Iran’s help for the Palestinians, a centrepiece of its international coverage for the reason that 1979 Islamic revolution.

Palestinian flags have been raised together with the Iranian flags in ceremonies for Raisi throughout the Islamic republic on Monday.