Thousands of Iranian people gathered to pay tribute to late President Ebrahim Raisi after he died in a helicopter crash.
Residents dressed in black walked somberly through the streets on Tuesday morning for the funeral procession of Raisi, 63, and the seven members of his entourage who also died on Sunday night.
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The crowd was monitored by heavily armed guards as Iranian officials gave speeches, played music and prayed for their fallen leader.
The brutal Raisi, known to some as “The Butcher,” was found dead on Monday in the charred wreckage of a US-made Bell 212 helicopter.
Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian was among seven others – including General Malek Rahmati, governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province – discovered after an hours-long search for the helicopter in blizzard conditions.
Mourners were seen on Tuesday morning waving Iranian flags and portraits of Raisi as they left a central square in the northwestern city of Tabriz – where the president was heading on Sunday before his helicopter crashed at the peak of a mountain shrouded in fog.
Others carried Palestinian flags in recognition of Iran’s support for the Palestinian militant group Hamas under Raisi’s leadership.
A truck decorated with white flowers carrying what appeared to be the coffins of the president, foreign minister and other officials drove through the masses to a stage.
Residents moved forward to get their hands on the moving vehicle, grabbing photos of Raisi that lined the sides.
One of the mourners, Tehran resident Hasti Amiri, told the AP: “From the moment we heard [news of the crash]… we were worried about what would happen to us, to him (Ebrahim Raisi) and to our country.
“We were all devastated [when news broke he had died].”
Another resident, Mohammad Beheshti, said he would have lost such a powerful leader.
He said: “We were shocked that we lost such a character, a character who made Iran proud and humiliated enemies.
“Especially during the past month, we have seen how his power has humbled Israel and America, and how Iran has been elevated to greatness.”
All government offices and businesses in Iran will be closed today as the country begins the three-day funerals for Raisi and Amirabdollahian.
Raisi will be buried in his hometown of Mashhad on Thursday.
Plans drawn up for the officers’ funeral procession will today see their bodies transferred from Tabriz to the religious city of Qom.
The bodies will later be taken to the capital, Vice President for Executive Affairs Mohsen Mansouri told Iranian news channel IRINN.
There will be a march tomorrow morning in Tehran, followed by a ceremony for senior foreign dignitaries in the afternoon.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei will also lead prayers for Raisi and the other dead helicopter passengers on Wednesday.
The day was declared a public holiday in Iran.
Raisi’s body will then be taken to Birjand, capital of South Khorasan province.
The procession will end at the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad, Raisi’s hometown, on Thursday evening.
Who was Ebrahim Raisi?
By Jessica Baker
IRAN’s hardline president, Ebrahim Raisi, has a bloody history filled with murder and helped oversee the mass executions of thousands of people.
The 63-year-old positioned himself as a potential successor to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – before he died suddenly in a helicopter crash on Sunday.
Known by some as Butcher Raisi won a landslide victory and was declared president of Iran in 2021.
The brute was reportedly a key member of the so-called “Death Commission,” which ordered the deaths of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 as Iran’s eight-year war with Iraq came to an end.
His alleged role was considered instrumental in gaining the support of powerful Iranian theocratic rulers.
The US sanctioned Raisi in 2019 for his “administrative oversight” of the executions of juvenile offenders and the torture and “amputations” inflicted on prisoners in Iran – as well as the 1988 mass executions.
Raisi later led the country in enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels, and was in power when Iran launched a massive drone and missile attack on Israel in April.
The president allegedly ordered the torture of pregnant women, had prisoners thrown off cliffs, had people flogged with electrical cables, and oversaw countless other brutal acts of violence.
Mass protests swept Iran in 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who had been detained for allegedly not wearing a hijab, or headscarf, as required by authorities.
Following the demonstrations, a months-long security crackdown resulted in the deaths of more than 500 people and the detention of more than 22,000.
In March, a United Nations investigative panel concluded that Iran was responsible for the physical violence that led to Amini’s death.
Security forces are expected to carry out identity checks on residents near the procession and temporarily close roads to make way for the funeral procession.
The president and his delegation were flying back to Tabriz after attending the inauguration of a dam project on the Aras River, when the group’s helicopter lost contact with the two helicopters flying alongside it.
Anti-regime Iranians took to the streets on Sunday night to “celebrate the good news” of Raisi’s then-supposed death.
Footage showed fireworks being launched into the night sky after the leader’s brutal helicopter crashed in East Azerbaijan province.
Riot police were seen in Rasht, northern Iran, as news of the accident spread, allegedly mobilized by the Islamic regime to crush celebrations they hoped would take place if Raisi’s death was announced.
Iranian women Mersedeh Shahinkar and Sima Moradbeigi, two victims of Raisi’s regime, were among many who shared videos of themselves dancing and smiling on social media following news of the accident.
Mersedeh was said to have been blinded by Iranian security forces during the 2022 protests, while Sima had her elbow shattered by an armed guard who shot her at point-blank range.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
