Iran’s Raisi to be buried in Mashhad as funeral ceremonies conclude

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led funeral prayers in Tehran after fatal helicopter crash

Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi will be buried in his hometown of Mashhad on Thursday evening after several days of funeral ceremonies held across the country.

The president, 63, and foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday alongside several other officials.

Large crowds were seen at Mashhad’s Shahid Mashinejad airport on Thursday afternoon as the president’s body arrived from Birjand, in south Khorasan province, where his coffin was paraded through streets packed with mourners.

Five hundred mosques have been prepared to welcome people across Mashhad, according to state media.

Thousands turned out in Tehran on Wednesday for a funeral procession attended by foreign representatives and leaders of Iran-backed militant groups, including Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, seen for the first time since the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan said he would seek his arrest.

People surrounded the funeral cortege as it moved slowly through streets lined with photos of the eight people killed in the crash, with large banners depicting Mr Raisi hung across the city.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will lead a commemoration ceremony for the dead on Saturday, the state-run Irna news agency announced on Thursday afternoon.

A Foreign Ministry ceremony for Mr Amirabdollahian began in Tehran’s Mashakh Square on Thursday morning after his body was flown back from Mashhad, where mourners surrounded his coffin at Imam Reza Ali shrine.

Mr Raisi will be buried at the same shrine, with Mr Amirabdollahian to be interred at the Shah Abdol Azim shrine near Tehran.

While thousands of regime supporters turned out for funeral ceremonies in Tehran, Tabriz and Qom, reaction from the general public has reflected popular opposition to the hardline president. He oversaw the fierce crackdown on anti-regime protesters and critics, in addition to the execution of political prisoners in the 1980s.

Images published by Iranian media on Wednesday showed officials in Mashhad preparing for the final day of funeral rites.

Others showed mourners surrounding Mr Amirabdollahian’s coffin at Mehrabad Airport, as it returned from Mashhad.

Khamenei led prayers over the remains at Tehran University on Wednesday and was filmed embracing Mr Raisi’s grandsons near the coffin.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan were among several foreign representatives who travelled to Tehran, meeting Iranian leaders to express their condolences.

Iranian state media published conflicting reports of 40 to 90 foreign delegations visiting the capital.

Diplomatic relations between Tehran and Riyadh were revived last March following China-brokered negotiations, which also involved Iraq, Jordan and Oman. Iranian diplomats referenced the renewed relationship in tributes paid to Mr Amirabdollahian in state media.

Tehran has launched an investigation into Sunday’s crash, which took place in heavy fog in north-western Iran.

The officials, travelling on the second of three helicopters in a presidential convoy, were returning from a dam inauguration ceremony on the border with Azerbaijan when communication with their helicopter was lost.