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Crowds packed the streets of Tehran and Iran’s supreme chief, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, carried out funeral prayers on Wednesday for the nation’s president, with senior officers from the Iranian-backed militant teams Hamas and Hezbollah becoming a member of the commemorations.
The presence of leaders from Hamas and Hezbollah — two key Iranian proxies within the Center East — alongside an array of non-Western officers provided a stark illustration of Tehran’s worldwide standing at a turbulent second for the nation. The dying of the president, Ebrahim Raisi, has added an extra layer of complexity and uncertainty.
Mr. Raisi, 63, was killed in a helicopter crash together with Iran’s overseas minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, 60, and 5 others touring with them on Sunday. Ayatollah Khamenei declared 5 days of mourning, and funeral observances started on Tuesday with a procession in Tabriz, the closest massive metropolis to the crash web site in northwestern Iran. The our bodies of Mr. Raisi and of the others killed had been then taken to the holy metropolis of Qom and to Tehran, the capital, forward of Wednesday’s occasions.
Iran’s safety forces applied tight visitors restrictions for town, the Tehran police chief, Col. Abdolfazl Mousavipour, advised state tv in a single day. State tv additionally reported that public transportation could be free on Wednesday — declared a nationwide vacation — to allow individuals to attend the funeral.
On Wednesday morning, state information media broadcast footage of giant crowds making their approach to the College of Tehran, the place the flag-draped coffins had been housed in a big corridor.
Ayatollah Khamenei, 85, entered with an entourage, laying down his cane in entrance of the coffins earlier than performing the prayers. His phrases had been carried on loudspeakers to crowds standing exterior who bowed their heads in prayer, state media footage confirmed.
Mr. Raisi had been thought of a possible candidate to succeed the supreme chief, who’s reportedly in declining well being. After performing the prayers, Ayatollah Khamenei embraced relations of Mr. Raisi, video on state information media confirmed, stroking one boy’s head.
A funeral procession then bought underway, with crowds thronging an open truck that carried the coffins to Tehran’s Azadi — or Freedom — Sq. previous billboards exhibiting a smiling Mr. Raisi. Many individuals carried images of the president; most wore black.
“If there’s one factor that the Islamic Republic is actually adept at is to prepare funerals and convey its core constituents to the streets,” Ali Vaez, the Iran director on the Worldwide Disaster Group, stated of the scenes. “It’s a present of drive geared toward showcasing the regime’s legitimacy to supporters at house and enemies overseas.”
A ceremony — scheduled to happen at 4 p.m. native time and which state media stated would come with greater than 40 “high-ranking overseas delegations,” together with 10 heads of state — will possible serve the identical goals.
State information media broadcast footage trumpeting the arrivals at Tehran airport, the place a pink carpet greeted the presidents of Tunisia, Kais Saied, and Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon. Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of the decrease home of the Russian Parliament, additionally made his manner by, as did the prime minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan.
“The taking part overseas delegates replicate the state of Iran’s relations with the surface world: low degree Western illustration together with excessive degree participation by Iran’s neighbors and nonstate allies,” Mr. Vaez stated.
These included representatives of Hamas and Hezbollah, who appeared on the commemorations on Wednesday, amid chants of “Dying to America” and “Dying to Israel.”
In an handle on the funeral ceremonies, Ismail Haniyeh, who leads Hamas’s political wing from exile, recalled assembly with Mr. Raisi in Tehran in the course of the holy month of Ramadan. At that assembly, Mr. Haniyeh stated, Mr. Raisi emphasised Iran’s “unchangeable” dedication to the Palestinian trigger, in response to Iranian state media.
The presence of Mr. Haniyeh — who was later proven on state information media assembly privately with Ayatollah Khamenei — got here regardless of the prospect of a looming arrest warrant from the Worldwide Prison Courtroom on allegations of struggle crimes and crimes in opposition to humanity. (Iran is just not occasion to the statute that established the courtroom.)
Hamas is a major a part of the community of proxies that Iran has developed and supported within the area. The militant group’s assault on Israel in October and Israel’s ensuing struggle in Gaza dramatically escalated tensions that final month pushed Israel and Iran to trade uncommon direct assaults.
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which on Monday commemorated Mr. Raisi as a “massive brother,” despatched Naim Qassem, its deputy secretary normal, to the funeral.
Whereas hundreds of presidency supporters attended the funeral and memorial companies throughout Iran, many Iranians who oppose the federal government and despised Mr. Raisi for his report of human rights violations confirmed apathy and a few even cheered his dying.
As investigators look into what induced the helicopter crash — state media reported that it was due to a “technical failure,” and Iran’s army is main a fee — extra particulars have emerged about its remaining moments.
State information media reported that Gholamhossein Esmaili, Iran’s presidential chief of workers, had stated that climate circumstances had been regular when the helicopter took off on Sunday. Mr. Esmaili was in one of many two different helicopters touring with Mr. Raisi’s that made it house safely.
About 45 minutes into the flight, Mr. Esmaili stated, the pilot of Mr. Raisi’s helicopter advised the convoy of plane to extend altitude to keep away from a cloud. However Mr. Raisi’s helicopter disappeared.
Mr. Esmaili advised state TV that a number of makes an attempt to make radio contact failed. One of many passengers on Mr. Raisi’s helicopter, an area prayer chief from Tabriz, ultimately answered a telephone and stated that the helicopter had crashed. The prayer chief, Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, later died.
Farnaz Fassihi, Leily Nikounazar and Euan Ward contributed reporting.
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