Iran’s supreme leader will lead funeral of president and others killed in helicopter crash

DUBAI – Iran’s supreme leader will preside over a funeral Wednesday for the late president, the country’s foreign minister and others killed in a helicopter crash.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will open the service at Tehran University. The coffins of the dead are decorated with Iranian flags and pictures. A black turban lies on the coffin of the late President Ebrahim Raisi – as a sign of his direct descent from the Islamic prophet Mohammed.

In attendance were top leaders of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, one of the country’s most important centers. Also present was Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, the militant group that Iran has armed and supported during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Before the funeral, a moderator shouted to the crowd: “Death to Israel!”

“I come on behalf of the Palestinian people, on behalf of the Gaza resistance groups… to express our condolences,” Haniyeh told those gathered.

He also recounted meeting Raisi in Tehran during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting, and heard the president say the Palestinian issue remains the central issue of the Muslim world.

The Muslim world “must fulfill its obligations to the Palestinians and liberate their land,” Haniyeh said, quoting Raisi’s words. He also described Raisi’s words calling the October 7 attack that sparked the war and left 1,200 people dead and 250 taken hostage as an “earthquake at the heart of the Zionist entity.”

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and a delegation from the Afghan Taliban, including Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mutaqqi, are also expected to attend the services in Tehran.

The coffins of the eight killed will then be carried in a procession through downtown Tehran to Azadi, or “Freedom Square” – where President Ebrahim Raisi has given speeches in the past.

Iran’s theocracy declared five days of mourning over the crash on Sunday and encouraged people to attend public mourning sessions. Typically, government employees and school children attend such events en masse, while others attend out of patriotism, curiosity or to witness historical events.

For Iran’s Shiite theocracy, mass demonstrations have been crucial to demonstrating the legitimacy of its leadership since millions of people streamed through the streets of Tehran to greet Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and also attended his funeral 10 years later . An estimated 1 million attended processions in 2020 for the late Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad.

Whether Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and others attract the same crowd remains questionable – especially given Raisi’s death in a helicopter crash, his victory in the presidential election with the lowest voter turnout in the country’s history and a widespread crackdown on any dissent directed.

The public prosecutor’s office has already warned the population not to celebrate his death in public. There has been a heavy security presence on the streets of Tehran since the crash.

The 63-year-old Raisi had been discussed as a possible successor to Iran’s supreme leader, the 85-year-old Khamenei. His death now throws that selection into question, especially since there is no likely cleric for president ahead of the scheduled June 28 election. Iran now has a sitting president, Mohammad Mokhber, who will lead an interim government in the coming weeks.

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Associated Press writers Joseph Krauss in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and Munir Ahmed and Riazat Butt in Islamabad contributed to this report.