In Iran, thousands of people gathered in streets on Tuesday to pay respects as funeral ceremonies began for President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdolahian and seven others who tragically died in a helicopter crash.
According to Iranian TV, three days of ceremonies began in Tabriz, capital of the north-western province of East Azerbaijan and the biggest city near the mountainous Dizmar forest where the accident occurred.
As outlined in the timetable provided by the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), following the events in Tabriz, the coffins will be transported on Tuesday afternoon to Qom, a holy city, for a ceremony.
They will then arrive in Tehran on Tuesday night for funeral prayers and a burial procession scheduled for Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, during the second of the five days of mourning declared by Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, shops, schools, and government offices in the city remained closed.
On Wednesday afternoon, foreign dignitaries are expected to attend a ceremony in the capital, which will coincide with a nationwide official holiday.
According to the schedule, Raisi will be taken to his hometown of Mashhad on Thursday for burial at the esteemed shrine of Imam Reza.
Iranian President Raisi, accompanied by Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, inaugurated a dam on the border between the two nations on Sunday.
However, tragedy struck as the helicopter carrying Raisi and his companions lost contact on their return journey to Tabriz along with two other choppers that landed safely.
Raisi, the eighth Iranian president since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, held significant roles in the country's leadership, including serving as the custodian of the revered Imam Reza shrine before assuming the presidency in 2021.
