Iran begins funeral procession for Ibrahim Raisi days after crash | Wilnesh News

Thousands of mourners gathered in Tabriz on Tuesday for the funeral of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi. Whitespace.

Videos and photos shared on social media Iran’s state-owned Islamic Republic News Agency reports and TSemi-official Tasnim Footage showed crowds swarming under blue-gray skies to watch the first funerals for Raisi, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdullahian and others killed in the incident.

CNBC did not independently verify the footage. Some mourners waved photos of Lacey while others waited in line at the back of the line for the procession.

Ceremonies for Raisi will be held from Tuesday to Thursday in Tabriz, Qom, Birjand and the Iranian capital Tehran. According to the Iranian News Agency, five days after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared mourning, his final funeral will be held in his birthplace, the holy city of Mashhad in the northeast of the country.

‘Our respected Raisi works tirelessly,’ Khamenei Said on X social media platform on Monday.

Wednesday declared a public holiday, Iran to hold ceremony inviting “senior foreign dignitaries” According to the Iranian Nuclear News Agency — although it’s unclear which world leaders will attend.

While some Iranians mourned Raisi, his death was a boon to Iran’s critics. “The Butcher of Tehran” He denounced his record as a member of a panel that directed the executions of as many as 5,000 people in 1988, According to Human Rights Watchand his harsh crackdown on mass protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022.

Raisi’s sudden death sent shockwaves through the international arena, with Iran increasingly isolated amid U.S. and Western sanctions and criticism of its nuclear activities and human rights record.

Iran has lost two key leaders when the helicopter carrying Raisi and Amirab Dorahian suffered a hard landing in bad weather while returning from near the Azerbaijani border on Sunday, just as it faces Western sanctions. economic pressures and tensions from the broader conflict in Iran.

Tehran, which has historically supported the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, launched its first brief airstrikes from its territory last month to directly engage Israel.

With the interim caretaker quickly announced, the focus has now shifted to Iran’s next step in succession. Former Iranian Vice President Mohammad Mohber now serves as acting head of state, while Ali Bagheri Qani, deputy foreign minister and chief nuclear negotiator, assumes Amirab Dollashian’s role. The presidential election is scheduled for June 28. .

Iran’s future on the international stage is also at a watershed moment. In March last year, Tehran and arch-enemy Saudi Arabia agreed to restore diplomatic ties through the mediation of China, their main commercial partner. It accepted an invitation in August 2023 to join the Beijing-led BRICS emerging market economic alliance and deepened ties with China and Russia, which has used Iranian-made Shahd drones in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday that Raisi’s death was “a huge loss to the Iranian people, and the Chinese people have also lost a good friend.” According to China’s state news agency Xinhua.

Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin also Praise for Lacey Hailed as “an outstanding statesman who devoted his life to the service of his motherland” and “a true friend of Russia”, he “has made valuable personal contributions to the development of good-neighborly relations between our two countries and has contributed to promoting both countries to the world.” A huge effort.” Level of strategic partnership. “

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller also expressed condolences on Lacey’s death. noticed on monday“As Iran elects a new president, we reiterate our support for the Iranian people and their struggle for human rights and fundamental freedoms.”