Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday offered funeral prayers for the Iranian president killed in a helicopter crashas thousands of Iranians filled the streets of Tehran in a day of official mourning.
THE president, Ebrahim Raïssi63 years old, was killed with Iran Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, 60, and five others traveling with them on Sunday. The funeral began Tuesday with a procession in Tabriz, the major city closest to the crash site in northwest Iran. The bodies of Mr. Raisi and others killed were then transported to the holy city of Qom and the capital Tehran before Wednesday’s events.
Iranian security forces imposed strict restrictions on vehicle movement and parking in the area where funeral processions were to begin, Tehran police chief Colonel Abdolfazl told state television overnight. Mousavipour. State television also announced that public transport would be free on Wednesday – declared a national holiday – to allow people to attend the funeral.
On Wednesday morning, state media broadcast images of huge crowds heading toward Tehran University, where flag-draped coffins were kept in a large hall.
Ayatollah Khamenei, 85 years old, entered with a retinue, placing his cane in front of the coffins before performing the prayers. His words were broadcast over loudspeakers to crowds standing outside who bowed their heads in prayer, state media footage showed.
Mr. Raisi had been considered a potential candidate to succeed the supreme leader, whose health is declining. After performing the prayers, Ayatollah Khamenei kissed one of Mr. Raisi’s children, a video broadcast by state media showed, stroking the boy’s head.
A funeral procession then set off. State news media said a ceremony at 4 p.m. local time would include more than 40 people.high-ranking foreign delegations» – including 10 heads of state.
It was not immediately clear which foreign leaders would attend. Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the lower house of the Russian Parliament, arrived at Tehran airport on Wednesday, according to state media. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Turkish officials were also expected at the events, state media reported.
At least two of the region’s Iranian-backed militant groups – Hamas and Hezbollah – sent representatives to Tehran for the funeral.
In a speech at the funeral ceremonies, Ismail Haniyeh, who leads Hamas’s political wing from exile, recalled his meeting with Mr. Raisi in Tehran during the holy month of Ramadan. At that meeting, Mr. Haniyeh said, Mr. Raisi emphasized Iran’s “unchanging” commitment to the Palestinian cause, according to Iranian state media.
Mr. Haniyeh’s presence occurred despite the prospect of an imminent arrest warrant of the International Criminal Court on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Hamas is a key element of proxy network that Iran has developed and supported in the region. The militant group’s attack on Israel in October and the subsequent Israeli war in Gaza were dramatic. escalation of tensions which last month pushed Israel and Iran to exchange rare direct attacks.
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which on Monday commemorated Mr. Raisi as a “big brother,” sent Naim Qassem, its deputy secretary general, to the funeral.
As thousands of government supporters attended funerals and memorial services across Iran, many Iranians who opposed the government and despised Mr. Raisi for his record of human rights violations showed their support. apathy and some even applauded his death.
As investigators probe the cause of the helicopter crash, state media said it was due to a “technical failure,” and the Iranian military is calling the shots. a commission – more details have been revealed about his final moments.
State media reported that Gholamhossein Esmaili, the Iranian president’s chief of staff, said weather conditions were normal when the helicopter took off on Sunday. Mr Esmaili was in one of two other helicopters traveling with Mr Raisi’s which returned home safely.
About 45 minutes into the flight, Mr. Esmaili said, the pilot of Mr. Raisi’s helicopter told the convoy of planes to increase altitude to avoid a cloud. But Mr. Raisi’s helicopter has disappeared.
Mr Esmaili told state television that several attempts to establish radio contact had failed. One of the passengers on Mr. Raisi’s helicopter, a local prayer leader in Tabriz, eventually answered a phone and said the helicopter had crashed. The prayer leader, Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, later died.
Farnaz Fassihi, Leily Nikounazar And Euan district reports contributed.
