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Iran Mourners Begin Days of Funerals 05/21 06:25
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Mourners in black began gathering
Tuesday for days of funerals and processions for Iran's late president, foreign
minister and others killed in a helicopter crash, a government-led series of
ceremonies aimed at both honoring the dead and projecting strength in an
unsettled Middle East.
For Iran's Shiite theocracy, mass demonstrations have been crucial since
millions thronged the streets of Tehran to welcome Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini in 1979 during the Islamic Revolution, and also attended his funeral
10 years later. An estimated 1 million turned out in 2020 for processions for
the late Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was slain in a U.S.
drone strike in Baghdad.
Whether President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian
and others draw the same crowd remains in question, particularly as Raisi died
in a helicopter crash, won his office in the lowest-turnout presidential
election in the country's history and presided over sweeping crackdowns on all
dissent. Prosecutors already have warned people over showing any public signs
of celebrating his death and a heavy security force presence has been seen on
the streets of Tehran since the crash.
But Raisi, 63, had been discussed as a possible successor for Iran's supreme
leader, the 85-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His death now throws that
selection into question, particularly as there is no heir-apparent cleric for
the presidency ahead of planned June 28 elections.
"Raisi's death comes at a moment when the Islamist regime is consolidated,"
wrote Alex Vatanka, an Iran expert at the Middle East Institute. "In short,
there will be no power vacuum in Tehran; nonetheless, post-Khamenei Iran
suddenly looks far less predictable than it did just a few days ago."
A procession Tuesday morning led by a semitruck carrying the caskets of the
dead slowly moved through the narrow streets of downtown Tabriz, the closest
major city near the site of the crash Sunday. Thousands in black slowly walked
beside the coffins, some throwing flowers up to them as an emcee wept through a
loudspeaker for men he described as martyrs.
The bodies will travel on to the holy Shiite seminary city of Qom before
traveling to Tehran later Tuesday. On Wednesday, a funeral presided over by
Khamenei will then turn into a procession as well.
It remains unclear what international presence that funeral will draw, as
Raisi faced U.S. sanctions for his part in mass executions in 1988 and for
abuses targeting protesters and dissidents while leading the country's
judiciary. Iran under Raisi also shipped bomb-carrying drones to Russia to be
used in its war on Ukraine.
"I don't feel comfortable sending condolences while Iran is sending drones
that are used against civilians in Ukraine," wrote Lithuanian Foreign Minister
Gabrielius Landsbergis on the social platform X.
United Kingdom Security Minister Tom Tugendhat echoed that in his own
message on X: "President Raisi's regime has murdered thousands at home, and
targeted people here in Britain and across Europe. I will not mourn him."
On Thursday, Raisi's hometown of Birjand will see a procession, followed by
a funeral and burial at the Imam Reza shrine in the holy city of Mashhad, the
only imam of the Shiite's faith buried in Iran.
That shrine has long been a center for pilgrims and sees millions visit each
year. Over the centuries, its grounds have served as the final burial site for
heroes in Persian history. It's an incredibly high, rare honor in the faith.
Iranian President Mohammad-Ali Rajai, the only other president to die in office
when he was killed in a 1981 bombing, was buried in Tehran.
Iran's theocracy declared five days of mourning, encouraging people to
attend the public mourning sessions. Typically, government employees and
schoolchildren attend such events en masse, while others take part out of
patriotism, curiosity or to witness historic events.
Across Iran, its rural population often more closely embraces the Shiite
faith and the government. However, Tehran has long held a far different view of
Raisi and his government's policies as mass protests have roiled the capital
for years.
The most recent involved the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a woman detained
over her allegedly loose headscarf, or hijab. The monthslong security crackdown
that followed the demonstrations killed more than 500 people and saw over
22,000 detained. In March, a United Nations investigative panel found that Iran
was responsible for the "physical violence" that led to Amini's death.
Meanwhile, Iran's rial currency has cratered after the collapse of Iran's
nuclear deal with world powers, destroying people's savings and pensions.
On Sunday night, as news of the helicopter crash circulated, some offered
anti-government chants in the night. Fireworks could be seen in some parts of
the capital, though Sunday also marked a remembrance for Imam Reza, which can
see them set off as well. Critical messages and dark jokes over the crash also
circulated online.
Iran's top prosecutor has already issued an order demanding cases be filed
against those "publishing false content, lies and insults" against Raisi and
others killed in the crash, according to the semiofficial ISNA news agency.
No cause has yet been offered by Iran's government for the crash, which took
place in a foggy mountain range in a decadesold helicopter. Iranian presidents
including hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Abolhasan Banisadr both survived
their own helicopter crashes while in office.
Iran's military, not its civil aviation authority, will investigate and
later offer a report, authorities say. Iran's civil air crash investigators
faced widespread international criticism over their reports on the downing of a
Ukrainian passenger plane by an air defense battery in 2020 after Soleimani's
killing.
Meanwhile Tuesday, Iran's new Assembly of Experts opened its first session
after an election that decided the new assembly, a panel of which both Raisi
and the late Tabriz Friday leader Mohammad Ali Ale-Heshem were members. A
flower-ringed portrait sat on the seat Raisi would have occupied at the meeting
of the 88-member panel, which is tasked with selecting the country's next
supreme leader. Also attending was Iran's acting President Mohammad Mokhber.
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