Iran pays tribute to its president killed in helicopter crash

A huge crowd paid tribute on Tuesday in Iran to President Ebrahim Raïssi, whose accidental death opened a period of political uncertainty before a pre& eacute;sidential to appoint his successor on June 28.

Scheduled to last until Thursday, the funeral began early in the morning in Tabriz, the large northwestern city near which Mr. Raïssi died in a helicopter crash on Sunday with seven other people including the head of diplomacy Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

The eight coffins covered with the Iranian flag were then transferred to the holy city of Qom, south of Tehran , where a new ceremony was held.

The funerals brought together hundreds of thousands of people, according to the official Irna agency.

In the two cities, a huge crowd, dressed mostly in black, marched waving flags and portraits of the president who died at age 63 and the seven other victims of the crash, according to images from AFPTV.

In Qom, the highlight was the passage of the coffins, carried at arm's length in the middle of a visibly moved crowd, into the Massoumeh sanctuary, the most important in the city. Outside, some waved red flags of Shiism and yellow flags of Lebanese Hezbollah.

Iran has declared five days of mourning, and the funeral will continue in Tehran, where Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei will preside over prayers at the farewell ceremony on Wednesday, declared a public holiday.< /p>

Several foreign countries, such as Russia, Turkey and Iraq, have announced that they will be represented at the funeral, but not at the level of heads of state.

– Informed websites –

President of Iran since 2021, Ebrahim Raïssi will be buried Thursday in Mashhad (north-east) , his hometown.

A funeral convoy with the coffins of the eight people who died in a helicopter crash, including Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi in Tabriz, May 21, 2024 © FARS NEWS AGENCY – ATA DADASHI

These funerals are organized according to the tradition of large gatherings that marked the first 45 years of the Islamic Republic, such as the one following the death of General Qassem Soleimani, a senior military official killed by an American strike in Iraq in 2020.

Numerous and immense portraits of the “martyr” Ebrahim Raïssi have been suspended and hung in public places in the main cities of the country.

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The Iranian president died in the crash of the helicopter taking him to Tabriz on Sunday after attending the joint inauguration of a dam with his Azeri counterpart , Ilham Aliyev, on their common border. Also among the victims were the governor of the Iranian province of East Azerbaijan.

Difficult search and rescue operations were carried out for a dozen hours in poor weather conditions in a steep and wooded region. The wreckage of the helicopter was discovered at dawn on Monday.

The funeral of President Ebrahim Raïssi in Tabriz, in the province of East Azerbaijan, on May 21, 2024 in Iran © FARS NEWS AGENCY – ATA DADASHI

An investigation into the causes of the crash was ordered by the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Mohammad Bagheri.

The authorities indicated that they had identified “80 websites” having “published insulting remarks and rumors about the accident”, indicated the Tasnim agency.

“The “Administrators of several of these sites have been notified and legal proceedings have been initiated against some of them”, she added.

– “Stability” –

After the death of the president, Ayatollah Khamenei, Iranian number one and ultimate decision-maker on strategic issues of the State, assured that there would be no would have “no disturbance in the administration of the country”.

< IMG Alt = "Fars News Agency" src = "https://img-4.linternaute.com/h2ufholh0tzuepugdsc6kruc5ii=/600x/smart/e6aed4249dd74e62a8728c74df1d376a/ccmcm .jpg " />Iranians attend the funeral of President Ebrahim Raïssi in Tabriz, May 21, 2024 © FARS NEWS AGENCY – AZIN HAGHIGHI

The Supreme National Security Council stressed Tuesday that “the vast presence of the nation” at the funeral ceremonies “guarantees the stability and national security of the Islamic Republic”.

He assured the support of all bodies of state for the interim president, Mohammad Mokhber, 68, one of whose tasks will be to prepare the presidential election on June 28.

The Assembly of Experts, responsible for appointing, supervising and possibly dismissing the supreme guide, held its first session after being elected in March.

Its members were headed by Ayatollah Ali Movahedi-Kermani, an octogenarian who has been a deputy and then a member of the assembly since the Islamic revolution of 1979, according to Irna.

The ultraconservative Raïssi was considered one of the favorites to succeed 85-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

During his presidency, Ebrahim Raïssi faced a popular protest movement in 2022, an economic crisis worsened by American sanctions and a worsening of tensions with the sworn enemy Israel.

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