TEHRAN: The funeral prayer of late Iranian President Seyyed Embrahim Raisi, Foriegn Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and other senior officials was led by the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offered in Tehran today.
Iranian media said that Hamas’ Qatar-based leader Ismail Haniyeh also attended the funeral prayer.
Haniyeh conveyed condolences to Iran’s leadership over the death of President Raisi and others on behalf of the Palestinian resistance groups.
The funeral prayer was held three days after the president’s helicopter crashed while crossing a mountain terrain amid heavy fog in the Varzaghan region of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province on Sunday after they were returning from an inauguration ceremony of a dam near the country’s border with Azerbaijan.
“Bodies of president Raisi and his companions were transferred to Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport on Tuesday after a funeral in northwestern city of Tabriz,” according to Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
Those accompanying the Iranian president included Supreme Leader’s representative Ali Ale-Hashem, East Azerbaijan Governor Malek Rahmati, two bodyguards, two pilots and one crew member.
All passengers, including Raisi, were declared dead when charred wreckage of the Bell 212 helicopter was found early on Monday after an overnight search in blizzard conditions.
A day earlier, Iran launched an investigation into the helicopter crash with Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri constituting a probe committee headed by Brigadier Ali Abdollahi. It was reported that the findings of the incident’s investigation would be made public.
Iran is currently observing a mourning period in the wake of the crash.
