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In a tragic turn of events, Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi passed away in a helicopter crash in Tabriz on Saturday. The capital of the province of Eastern Azerbaijan where he was inaugurating a dam with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev. The difficult weather conditions in the region caused the crash, resulting in the deaths of Raïssi and eight others, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
The funeral ceremonies for Raïssi are set to begin on Tuesday in Tabriz before being taken to the holy city of Qom and finally transferred to Tehran. Ayatollah Khamenei will lead prayers at a farewell ceremony in Tehran on Tuesday evening, followed by processions in the capital on Wednesday morning. Raïssi’s remains will then be moved to South Khorasan and finally to his hometown, Mashhad, where he will be buried on Thursday evening.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared five days of mourning and appointed Vice President Mohammad Mokhber as interim president until the upcoming elections. Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri, was named acting foreign minister. Condolences poured in from various countries, with allies like Palestinian Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah, and Syria mourning Raïssi’s death.
Raïssi was an ultraconservative who took office in 2021 amid social and economic challenges in Iran. His support for the Palestinians was reaffirmed in his final speech. Meanwhile, rallies are being held across Iran to honor Raïssi and the other victims of the crash. The tragedy has left a void in Iran’s political landscape, with Raïssi being a prominent figure as a potential successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The investigations into the crash are ongoing and
