Amid tears and tributes, Ebrahim Raisi's funeral prayers offered in Tehran

Tens of thousand of mourners gathered in Tehran to offer the funeral prayers of late Iranian President Syyed Ebrahim Raisi and his staff, who were killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday.

Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, led the funeral prayers of Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdullahian and others, in which over forty heads of several countries participated.

Ebrahim Raisi will be laid to rest in his hometown of Mashhad, near the shrine of Imam Reza (R.A), Iran's state media reported.

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says prayers over the bodies of the late president and his entourage at the University of Tehran. pic.twitter.com/bihQxMl0ZH

— IRNA News Agency (@IrnaEnglish) May 22, 2024

On the other hand, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will also travel to Tehran today to attend a funeral ceremony of Raisi and his entourage.

A helicopter carrying Raisi, FinMin Hossein Amirabdollahian and several top officials crashed on May 19, resulting in the tragic loss of all lives on board. 

East Azarbaijan Province’s Governor Malek Rahmati, the head of Raisi’s guard team Mehdi Mousavi and Mohammad Ali Al-e-Hashem, the Supreme Leader’s representative in the East Azerbaijan province, were also onboard the helicopter.

The tragic accident happened when the 63-year-old politician was en route to launch a project after inaugurating a dam in Azerbaijan.

After the event, Raisi and his entourage departed in a convoy of three choppers to inaugurate another project.

However, Raisi's helicopter lost contact shortly after taking off.

"At around 1 pm, the president left Tabriz to inaugurate two projects, but the helicopter lost contact shortly after leaving," the head of the search and rescue teams, Mohsen Mansouri told the media.

"Three helicopters left Tabriz, but, half an hour later, two lost contact with the one carrying the president," he added.

According to Irani media, the helicopter carrying Raisi crashed on the border of Azerbaijan due to bad weather.