Tehran, May 21 (EFE).- Tens of thousands of people gathered in streets across Iran on Tuesday as funeral ceremonies began for President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdolahian and seven others killed in a weekend helicopter accident.
Three days of ceremonies began in Tabriz, capital of the northwestern province of East Azerbaijan and the largest city nearest the site of the accident in the mountainous Dizmar forest, according to Iranian television.
Thousands of people turned out on the streets of Tabriz to witness the funeral procession that left Shohada (Martyrs) Square for a city mosque.
Shops, schools and government offices were closed in the city on the second of the five days of mourning declared by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
After the events in Tabriz, the coffins will be transported Tuesday afternoon for a ceremony in the holy city of Qom, and will arrive Tuesday night in Tehran where funeral prayers and a burial procession will take place Wednesday morning, according to the timetable released by the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
On Wednesday afternoon in the capital, foreign dignitaries are expected to participate in a ceremony on what will be an official holiday throughout the country.
On Thursday in the city of Birjand, South Khorasan province, where Raisi was elected to the Assembly of Experts, a ceremony will be held for the late president, and finally, later in the day he will be buried in the holy city of Mashhad.
Raisi had inaugurated a dam with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on the border between the two countries on Sunday. Afterwards, the helicopter in which he and his companions were traveling lost contact as it was returning to Tabriz along with two other choppers that landed safely.
The American Bell 212 was located Monday along with the bodies of its occupants in a mountainous area in the Dizmar forest between the cities of Varzaqan and Jolfa in East Azerbaijan province amid dense fog.
IRNA reported that the incident was a “technical failure.”
Aside from the president and his foreign minister, other victims were East Azerbaijan Governor Malik Rahmati, Tabriz city Friday prayers leader Mohammad Ali Al-Hashem, Maj. Gen. Seyed Mehdi Mousavi, head of the president’s security team, a member of the Ansar al-Mahdi Corps, the helicopter pilot and co-pilot, and a technician, according to Tasnim news agency on Monday.
Later that Monday, Khamenei approved First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber as interim president of the country, while deputy foreign minister and nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani was appointed chief diplomat to replace Amir-Abdollahian.
Iran will hold a snap presidential election on June 28. EFE
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