©TAUSEEF MUSTAFA / AFP
Tens of thousands of Iranians gathered Tuesday to mourn president Ebrahim Raisi and seven members of his entourage who were killed in a helicopter crash on a fog-shrouded mountainside in the northwest.
Waving Iranian flags and portraits of the late president, mourners set off from a central square in the northwestern city of Tabriz, where Raisi was headed when his helicopter crashed on Sunday.
They walked behind a lorry carrying the coffins of Raisi and his seven aides.
From Tabriz, Raisi's body will be flown to the Shiite clerical centre of Qom on Tuesday before being moved to Tehran that evening.
Processions will be held in the capital on Wednesday morning before Khamenei leads prayers at a farewell ceremony.
Raisi's body will then be flown to his home city of Mashhad, in the northeast, where he will be buried on Thursday evening after funeral rites.
Condolence messages flooded in from Iran's allies around the region, including the Syrian government, Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Palestinian flags were raised alongside Iranian flags at ceremonies held for the late president.
Ramin Khanizadeh and Ahmad Parhizi, with AFP
Waving Iranian flags and portraits of the late president, mourners set off from a central square in the northwestern city of Tabriz, where Raisi was headed when his helicopter crashed on Sunday.
They walked behind a lorry carrying the coffins of Raisi and his seven aides.
From Tabriz, Raisi's body will be flown to the Shiite clerical centre of Qom on Tuesday before being moved to Tehran that evening.
Processions will be held in the capital on Wednesday morning before Khamenei leads prayers at a farewell ceremony.
Raisi's body will then be flown to his home city of Mashhad, in the northeast, where he will be buried on Thursday evening after funeral rites.
Condolence messages flooded in from Iran's allies around the region, including the Syrian government, Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Palestinian flags were raised alongside Iranian flags at ceremonies held for the late president.
Ramin Khanizadeh and Ahmad Parhizi, with AFP
This Is Beirut
Comments