Iranian President Raisi: Days of funeral ceremonies begin as investigators investigate helicopter crash

CNN
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The funeral ceremony for the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is scheduled to begin today, Tuesday, after his death In a helicopter crashWhile authorities are investigating why the plane crashed into the side of a remote mountain during foggy weather on Sunday morning.

Raisi died along with other high-ranking officialsThe president, including the country’s foreign minister, has left the Islamic Republic’s hardline establishment facing an uncertain future as it navigates rising regional tensions and domestic discontent.

The Iranian government has arranged several days of mourning culminating in a funeral later this week for the 63-year-old cleric who was once seen as a potential successor to current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

Tuesday will begin with funeral prayers and a march in the northwestern city of Tabriz, the largest city in the mountainous region of northwestern Iran where the helicopter crashed, according to Mohsen Mansouri, head of the funeral planning committee and Iran’s vice president for executive affairs. .

Later that day, the bodies of the victims will be transported to the holy Shiite city of Qom, where many of the clerics who make up Iran’s theocratic elite are trained, before then heading to the capital, Tehran.

Large celebrations are scheduled to be held at the Grand Al-Musalla Mosque in Tehran on Wednesday. Al Mansouri declared a public holiday and closed offices across the country on that day so that processions could be organized.

Raisi’s body will then be transported to the historic Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, where Ayatollah Khamenei will lead prayers, according to Mehr News Agency.

There is no indication of the possible cause of the crash – and why so many senior Iranian government officials were traveling on a single, decades-old helicopter.

In the first moments after Raisi’s helicopter lost contact on Sunday evening, Turkey said it monitored whether the plane gave a “signal” or not, but was unable to detect anything.

He added: “We immediately contacted the Iranian side. “They also contacted us, but unfortunately it turned out that the signal system was either broken or that the helicopter did not have a signal system,” Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu said, according to Turkish broadcaster TRT.

It was not clear whether he was referring to the helicopter’s transceiver, with which the vast majority of aircraft are usually equipped.

When asked if there was a possibility of sabotage, Oraloglu said it was too early to comment on the issue, and said initial indications looked like an accident due to foggy weather.

Iranian media reported on Monday that the country’s military commander appointed a committee to investigate the cause of the plane crash, which includes military and technical experts.

A high-level delegation will head to the plane crash site in eastern Azerbaijan, according to the Iranian Tasnim News Agency.

The loss of my boss – conservative hardliner and protégé Ayatollah Khamenei – is expected to sow further uncertainty in a country already under significant economic and political pressure, with tensions with neighboring Israel reaching a dangerous level.

His death sparked domestic and international reactions – with many of Iran’s authoritarian partners sending condolences and overwhelming praise. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un all issued statements praising Raisi’s legacy and hailing him as a “friend.”

In his letter, Kim described Raisi as “an outstanding statesman and close friend of the (North Korean) people,” adding that the leader “made a great contribution to the cause of the Iranian people to protect the sovereignty, development and interests of North Korea.” Their country,” according to North Korea’s official media, the North Korean Central News Agency.

Xi, whose government last year played a role in brokering a historic rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, praised Raisi’s contributions to maintaining Iran’s security and stability and promoting national development and prosperity.

“The tragic death of Raisi is a great loss for the Iranian people, and the Chinese people have also lost a good friend,” Xi said in a statement carried by Chinese state media, adding that the two countries would continue to “strengthen and deepen” their strategy. partnership.

Putin, who the United States believes he is Receive support From Iran over his war in Ukraine, he described the Iranian leader as an “outstanding politician” and a “true friend of Russia.” Putin’s statement issued by the Kremlin said that Raisi made an “invaluable personal contribution” to developing relations between the two countries.

The comments come as observers point to a loose but growing alignment of interests between Iran, China, North Korea and Russia over their shared hostility toward a world order they see as dominated by the United States and its values.

Inside Iran, where many of the country’s restless youth have grown tired of the rule of conservative clerics, Raisi has had a more polarizing legacy.

He was widely seen as a figure in whom Iran’s hardline establishment had invested heavily. But he brutally suppressed a youth-led uprising against repressive laws, such as mandatory veiling, and continued to eliminate dissent in its wake.