President Ebrahim Raisi died on Sunday, along with the foreign minister, after his helicopter crashed near the border with Azerbaijan.
Thousands of people marched in Iran for the final day of funeral rites for President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash earlier this week.
Raisi, 63, died on Sunday alongside his foreign minister and six others when the helicopter they were traveling in crashed in the country’s mountainous northwest while returning from the inauguration of a dam.
Thousands of people, holding Raisi posters and waving flags, marched in the eastern town of Birjand on Thursday morning to bid him farewell.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who announced five days of mourning for those who died in the crash, led prayers in Tehran on Wednesday for Raisi’s funeral.
Raisi will be buried in the holy shrine of Imam Reza, a mausoleum in the city of Mashad, where the ultra-conservative president was born.
He will become the country’s first prominent politician to be buried at the shrine, representing a significant honor for the former leader.
Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian will also be buried on Thursday at the shrine of Shah Abdol-Azim in the city of Shahr-e Rey.
Iranian officials and foreign dignitaries paid tribute to the late diplomat at a ceremony in Tehran before his burial.
Raisi’s death occurs at a time of worsening tensions between the clerical leadership and society in general, aggravated by the strengthening of political and social controls.
Vice President Mohammad Mokhber took over as interim president on Monday, while Ali Bagheri Kani was named interim foreign minister until the June 28 elections.
Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, reporting from Tehran, said the Iranian establishment wanted to form “parallel lives”, with Iranians mourning Raisi as they prepared for an election, which was not expected until next year.
“The main thing here is that the establishment does not want the feeling of uncertainty to dominate and, of course, [cause] a vacuum. In fact, Iranians are very sensitive to voids, which is why we see them announcing elections in less than 50 days – it will be within a month and a few days.
“Given that the elections are underway, the next few days will involve registration of candidacies. Of course, people are dropping names, especially from the conservative camp,” Hashem said.
During the presidency of Raisi, elected in 2021, the country witnessed mass protests, a deepening economic crisis and unprecedented armed exchanges with Israel.
Before his death, Raisi was also expected to succeed Ayatollah Khamenei.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
