Tens of thousands of Iranians gathered early this Wednesday in central Tehran to participate in the funeral ceremonies for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, where Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei will perform prayers over the bodies of Raisi and his companions who died in the incident. Raisi's body will be buried tomorrow, Thursday, in Mashhad, his birthplace in northeastern Iran. The ceremonies will continue until Thursday, having begun early on Tuesday in Tabriz, the largest city in the northwest, where Raisi died in a helicopter crash along with seven others, including Foreign Minister Abdollahian.
The eight coffins covered with the Iranian flag were then transferred to the holy city of Qom, where ceremonies took place with thousands of mourners participating, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). Iran announced five days of mourning and moved the coffins to Tehran in the evening, where Ayatollah Khamenei will pray over them on Wednesday. Raisi's body will be interred in Mashhad, his birthplace in northeastern Iran. Several countries, including Russia, Turkey, and Iraq, announced they would send delegations to attend the funeral, though not at the presidential level.
