Thousands of Iranians flocked to Ebrahim Raisi's funeral

Thousands of Iranians marched somberly through the streets of the city of Tabriz for the funeral procession of President Ebrahim Raisi, AFP reported.
Mourners waved Iranian flags and portraits of the late president as they marched from the central square in the northwestern city.
On May 19, traveling precisely to Tabriz, Raisi's helicopter crashed, resulting in the death of the Iranian president and 7 other people from his entourage. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was among the dead.
State television announced his death in a report early on May 20 that said "the servant of the Iranian nation, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi, has achieved the highest level of martyrdom," and showed pictures of him reciting the Koran aloud.
Iran's armed forces chief of staff, Mohammad Bagheri, ordered an investigation into the cause of the crash as Iranians in cities across the country gathered to mourn Raisi and his entourage.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared five days of national mourning and appointed 68-year-old Vice President Mohammed Mohber as interim president until presidential elections are held.
State media later announced that the election would be held on June 28.
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri, who was Amir-Abdollahian's deputy, was appointed acting foreign minister.
From Tabriz, Raisi's body will be transported to the Shiite spiritual center of Qum, and in the evening it will be moved to Tehran.
On May 22, processions will be held in the capital before Khamenei leads the prayers at the farewell ceremony.
Raisi's body will then be taken to his hometown of Mashhad, in the northeast of the country, where he will be buried after mourning rites.
Raisi, 63, had been in office since 2021. The ultraconservative's tenure has seen mass protests, a deepening economic crisis and unprecedented exchanges of arms with arch-nemesis Israel.
Raisi succeeded moderate Hassan Rouhani at a time when the economy was hit by US sanctions imposed over Iran's nuclear activities.
Condolences poured in from Iran's allies in the region, including the Syrian government, the Palestinian militant group Hamas and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
It was Hamas' unprecedented attack on Israel that sparked the devastating war in Gaza, now in its eighth month, and the sharp rise in tensions between Israel and the "axis of resistance" led by Iran.
The killing of seven Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in a drone strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1 sparked Iran's first-ever direct attack on Israel, involving hundreds of missiles and drones.
In a speech hours before his death, Raisi emphasized Iran's support for the Palestinians, which has been at the center of its foreign policy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Palestinian flags were raised alongside Iranian flags at ceremonies organized in memory of the late president. /BGNES