President Raisi’s funeral begins in Tehran

Mourners have converged on the University of Tehran since early morning to attend the funeral of President Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage, who passed away in a helicopter crash on May 19, Tasnim reports.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei performed the ritual Salat al-Mayyit (prayer for the deceased) at the funeral of late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday morning.A huge crowd of people from all walks of life have attended the funeral service in the University of Tehran.

Mourners will then march in procession to the Azadi (Liberty) Square, the report adds.

Separate funeral services were held in Tabriz and Qom yesterday, before the bodies were transferred to Tehran.

Foreign officials and high-ranking delegations will attend a ceremony in commemoration of the martyrs in Tehran on Wednesday evening. Armenia’s prime minister Nikol Pashinyan will also attend the ceremony.

President Raisi will be laid to rest Thursday at noon in the holy city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran, where the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS) is located, Tasnim adds.

A helicopter carrying President Raisi and his entourage crashed in northwestern mountainous forests on May 19. The fatal accident happened as the president was returning from Khoda Afarin region in Iran’s northwestern province of East Azerbaijan after inaugurating a dam at the common border with the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The crash killed President Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Friday prayers leader of Tabriz Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Al-e-Hashem, Governor of East Azerbaijan Malek Rahmati, the commander of the president’s security team, two pilots and a flight crew.Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei declared five days of public mourning, and appointed the first vice president as the manager of the executive power. Iran will hold snap presidential elections on June 28.