About three million people took part in the farewell ceremony for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died on May 19 in a helicopter crash along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and a number of other dignitaries, city prefect Mohsen Davari said.
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Raisi’s body was buried on Thursday in Mashhad, the president’s hometown in the country’s northwestern Razavi Khorasan province. He was honored to be buried in the city’s signature place – the mausoleum of Imam Reza, the eighth of the twelve imams revered by Iranian Shiites.
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“About three million people took part in the farewell ceremony for the bodies of the deceased president and his companions in Mashhad. Some of them (who took part) were pilgrims who came to Mashhad from other cities,” Davari said.
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The helicopter carrying Raisi, Abdollahian and other officials crashed on May 19 in the northwest of the country in the Verzegan region. On the morning of May 20, Iranian Vice President Mohsen Mansouri confirmed reports of the death of the president and his delegation in a helicopter crash. The delegation was returning after a visit to Azerbaijan, where Raisi and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev participated in the opening ceremony of the Giz Galasy hydroelectric complex and the commissioning of the Khudaferin hydroelectric complex on the border Araks River. The head of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Mohammad Bagheri, appointed a commission to investigate the crash. The results will be presented to the Supreme Leader of Iran and the people, said Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali.
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The president’s body was flown to his hometown of Mashhad on Wednesday after funeral ceremonies were held in the cities of Tabriz, Qom, Tehran and Birjand.
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New presidential elections, according to Article 131 of the Iranian constitution, must be held within 50 days of the declaration of the death or incapacity of the president and the transfer of his duties to the first vice president. This position is currently held by Mohammad Mokhber.
