Iranians are observing the funeral rites of President Ebrahim Raisi, who died along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and six others in a helicopter crash on Sunday May 19th 2024.
Funeral rites will take place until Thursday across Tabriz—the largest city close to the crash site near the Iranian-Azerbaijani border—and Qom, Tehran, and Birjand, before Raisi is buried at the Imam Reza Shrine in his birthplace of Mashhad.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei announced Monday that five days of mourning would be observed across Iran.
Large ceremonies are planned in Tehran's enormous Grand Mosallah Mosque on Wednesday May 22nd. Mohsen Mansouri, the head of the funeral planning committee and Iran's vice president of executive affairs, announced a public holiday and the closure of offices all over the country that day so that processions can take place.
Raisi's body will then be moved to the historic Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad where Ayatollah Khamenei will conduct prayers, according to Mehr News. Raisi's body is expected to be buried in Mashhad, his birthplace, on Thursday.
