Iran: President Raïssi buried in the holy city of Mashhad

Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi, deceased; in a helicopter crash Monday, must be buried Thursday evening à Mashhad, his hometown, after two days of funeral ceremonies which mobilized many people. hundreds of thousands of supporters of the Islamic Republic.

The president, who is Ayatollah, will rest in the main Shiite mausoleum in the northeast of the country, that of Imam Reza.

Raïssi , who has presided over Iran since 2021, died at the age of 63 in the fall of the helicopter which was taking him to Tabriz (northwest) on Sunday after attending the joint inauguration of a dam with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliev, on their common border.

The funeral of President Ebrahim Raïssi in Tehran, May 22, 2024 in Iran © AFP – Atta KENARE

Images published in Iranian media showed Mashhad officials preparing the holy city for the final day of the president's funeral.

Giant portraits of Raisi, black flags and Shiite symbols were erected in the streets of Iran's second city, particularly around the Reza shrine.

– Heading towards the elections –

The day before in Tehran, a huge crowd gathered in the center to pay a final tribute to the president celebrated as a “martyr” after his death.

A huge crowd gathered in Tehran for the funeral of President Ebrahim Raïssi, May 22, 2024, in Iran © AFP – ATTA KENARE

On this declared public holiday, the ceremonies began with a prayer led by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who prostrated himself before the coffins of the eight men killed in the crash, including the head of diplomacy Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

The latter is to be buried Thursday in the shrine of Shah Abdolazim, located in the town of Rey south of Tehran.

These ceremonies took place 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 a US strike in Iraq in 2020.

Leaders from countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia, including Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, attended a ceremony in the afternoon tribute, to which around sixty countries were represented.

Iranians attend the funeral of President Ebrahim Raïssi on May 22, 2024 in Tehran © AFP – –

However, no European Union country was represented at the ceremony, while Tehran's relations with Western countries remain very tense.

At the same time, the authorities are working to organize the process of replacing Mr. Raïssi. The interim president, Mohammad Mokhber, 68, has the task of preparing the presidential election, which will be held on June 28.

At this stage, no personality politician has publicly declared his candidacy.

The submission of presidential candidacies officially opens on May 30 and the electoral campaign begins on June 12.< /p> All rights of reproduction and representation reserved. © (2024) Agence France-Presse