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Tens of thousands of people gathered this Thursday on the streets of Mashhad, in the northwest of Willto honor the president Ebrahim Raisi before his burial in his hometown, five days after he was found dead following a helicopter crash.
The ceremony will end three days of funerals that brought together crowds, in line with the tradition of major events that have occurred in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
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In power since 2021, Raisi died at age 63 when the helicopter crashed which took him to the northwestern city of Tabriz, after inaugurating with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, a dam on the border between the two countries.
The accident caused the death of eight occupants of the aircraft, including Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, who was buried this Thursday south of Tehran.
In Mashhad, men and women, most wearing chadors, and children paraded down the avenue leading to the mausoleum of Imam Reza, the country’s main Shiite shrine.
MORE INFORMATION | A large crowd attends the funeral of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran
Most brought photos of the deceased and white flowers, widely used at funerals in Will.
Everyone followed the coffin, transported in a truck with the words: “I have come, O king, give me shelter”; a motto in which the “king” referred to Imam Reza, the eighth Shiite imam.
After the death was publicly announced on Monday, Ayatollah Khamenei declared five days of national mourning and named Vice President Mohammad Mokhber as interim president until elections are held on June 28.
The position of Minister of Foreign Affairs will be occupied by Ali Bagheri, until now vice-chancellor and main negotiator of the Iranian nuclear program.
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At the moment, no one has publicly declared their intention to replace Raisi. The deadline for submitting candidacies officially opens on May 30th and the electoral campaign will begin on June 12th.
– Anti-Israel rally –
On Wednesday, a huge crowd filled the center of Tehran to pay tribute to the president, celebrated as a “martyr” after his death.
In the afternoon, a tribute ceremony was held, with the presence of leaders from other countries in the Middle Eastfrom North Africa and Asia, including Tunisian President Kais Saied and Qatari Emir Tamim ben Hamad al Thani.
Proof of the tense relations between Tehran and the West, no European Union country was represented in the approximately 60 international delegations present in the Iranian capital.
In Tehranseveral ambassadors participated in a ceremony in honor of Amir Abdollahian this Thursday morning, before he was buried in the shrine of Shah Abdolazim, in the city of Rey.
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On the sidelines of the ceremonies, representatives of the “axis of resistance” groups against Israel gathered, state television Irib reported. Iran was represented by General Hossein Salami, commander of the Revolutionary Guard, and General Esmail Qaani, commander of the Qods Force.
They spoke about “the political, social and military situation in Link”, where Israel combats the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas within the framework of a war that took place on October 7, and “the fight leads to the complete victory of the Palestinian resistance with the participation of all resistance groups” the region.
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
