Huge crowds gather in Iranian capital for president Raisi’s funeral

TEHRAN - Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, led prayers for the late President Ebrahim Raisi on May 22 as huge crowds thronged the capital Tehran for his funeral procession.

Flanked by top officials, Mr Khamenei prayed over the coffins of the dead, who included Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian. Mourners filled the open space around Tehran University, where the prayers were held, before the funeral procession moved on to Enghelab and Azadi squares.

State television said Mr Raisi, who had been widely seen as Mr Khamenei’s most likely successor as supreme leader, received a “millionfold farewell” from the people of Tehran.

“We have lost a prominent personality,” Mr Khamenei told visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. “He was a very good brother. He was an efficient, competent, sincere and serious official.”

Palestinian militant group Hamas’ leader Ismail Haniyeh joined the procession, as did Lebanese militant group Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Qassem. “I say once again... we are sure that the Islamic Republic of Iran will continue its support for the Palestinian people,” Haniyeh told the crowd to chants of “death to Israel”.

Martyr of service

Mr Raisi’s helicopter crashed into a fog-shrouded mountainside in north-western Iran on May 19 as he was heading back to the city of Tabriz after attending a ceremony on the border with Azerbaijan.

A huge search-and-rescue operation was launched, involving help from Turkey, Russia and the European Union. State television announced Mr Raisi’s death early on May 20. The Iranian military said domestically produced drones played a key role in locating the crash site.

In the capital, huge banners were put up, hailing the late president as “the martyr of service”, while others bade “farewell to the servant of the disadvantaged”.

Tehran residents received phone messages urging them to “attend the funeral of the martyr of service”.

“I was sad; I came to calm my heart and calm the heart of the Supreme Leader,” said one mourner who gave her name only as Maryam, adding that she had travelled from Varamin, south of Tehran, to pay her last respects.

Burial in Mashhad

Funeral rites for Mr Raisi and his entourage began on May 21 with processions through Tabriz and the Shi’ite clerical centre of Qom, drawing tens of thousands of black-clad mourners.

From Tehran, the bodies will be taken to Iran’s second city of Mashhad, Mr Raisi’s home town in the north-east where he will be buried on the evening of May 23 after funeral rites at the Imam Reza shrine.

Mr Khamenei, who wields ultimate authority in Iran, has declared five days of national mourning and assigned Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber, 68, as caretaker president until a June 28 election for Mr Raisi’s successor.

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Mr Ali Bagheri, who was Mr Amirabdollahian’s deputy, has been named acting foreign minister.

The country’s armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri has ordered an investigation into the cause of the helicopter crash.

Mr Raisi was

elected president in 2021,

succeeding the moderate Hassan Rouhani at a time when the economy was battered by US sanctions imposed over Iran’s nuclear activities. The ultra-conservative’s time in office saw mass protests, a deepening economic crisis and unprecedented armed exchanges with archenemy Israel.

After Mr Raisi’s death, global allies Russia and China sent their condolences, as did Nato, while the UN Security Council observed a minute’s silence.

Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam on May 21 wrote to Mr Mokhber to extend his condolences. “My heartfelt sympathies go out to President Raisi’s family, as well as to the loved ones of all the other victims,” he said.

Condolence messages also flooded in from Iran’s allies around the region, including the Syrian government as well as Hamas and Hezbollah. AFP