Iranians gathered Tuesday to mourn the funeral of President Ebrahim Raisi, northwest of Tabriz, the capital of East Azerbaijan Province, who died unexpectedly in a helicopter crash.
Dikuchar lost contact with his Azeri counterpart Ilm Aliyev when he returned to Towriz after attending the opening ceremony of a dam on their common border.
A massive search and rescue operation was launched on Sunday afternoon when Raisi lost contact with two other helicopters in his convoy in mountainous weather.
State television broadcast an obituary early Monday morning, saying, “The servant of Iran, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi, has been the supreme martyr,” and showed a picture of him as a voice reciting the Koran.
Along with the Iranian president, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, members of the East Azerbaijan Provincial Government and members of the security team were killed.
On Monday, Iran’s military chief, Mohammad Bagheri, ordered an investigation into the cause of the crash.
After Raisi’s death was confirmed, there was international mourning as people gathered in cities to mourn the late president and his companions.
On Monday, thousands of protesters gathered in Waliasr Square in central Tehran, carrying portraits of Raisi. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, declared five days of national mourning and appointed 68-year-old Vice President Mohammad Mohbar as interim president. before the election.
Then the state media announced that the presidential election will be held on June 28.
Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri, who served as Amir-Abdullah’s deputy, was appointed acting foreign minister.
After leaving Towriz, Raisi’s body will arrive at the Iranian Shia cleric center on Tuesday before being transferred to Tehran.
Khamenei is due to pray at a farewell ceremony in Tehran ahead of a large rally set to begin early Wednesday.
Raisi will then be taken to South Khorasan Province on Thursday morning, then to his hometown Mashhad and will be buried on Thursday evening after the funeral rites.
Raisi, 63, has been in office since 2021, a period that has seen mass protests, an economic crisis deepened by US sanctions and armed exchanges with arch-enemy Israel.
Raisi replaces moderate Hassan Rouhani at a time when the economy is reeling under US sanctions over Iran’s controversial nuclear program.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and all members of the so-called “axis of resistance” against Syria, Israel and its allies have come at a tense time in the Middle East due to the Gaza attack.
