Dignitaries from over 50 countries in Tehran for funeral of Raeisi, companions
Dignitaries from dozens of countries have arrived in the Iranian capital Tehran to take part in funeral ceremonies held for late President Ebrahim Raeisi and companions who were martyred in a helicopter crash northwest of the country over the weekend.
The official IRNA news agency said that nearly 68 senior officials from more than 50 countries and several international organizations attended an official ceremony at the Iran International Conference Center in Tehran to pay respect to the bodies of President Raeisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and other people martyred in the helicopter crash.
The delegations included 10 heads of state and 20 ministers as well as parliament speakers and special representatives dispatched by foreign governments to attend the ceremony.
The Qatari Emir, Turkmenistan’s National Leader, presidents of Tunisia and Tajikistan, prime ministers of Iraq, Armenia, Qatar, and Azerbaijan as well as parliament speakers from Iraq, Russia, Algeria Uzbekistan Kazakhstan and Lebanon were among senior officials representing their countries in the funeral ceremony.
Raeisi, Amirabdollahian, two top officials of the Iranian province of East Azerbaijan, two bodyguards and a crew were onboard a helicopter that was returning from a dam inauguration ceremony on Iran’s border with the Republic of Azerbaijan when it crashed into forests in Varzaqan region.
A mass public funeral was held in the capital Tehran early on Wednesday where hundreds of thousands turned out on the streets of the city to pay their respect to the martyrs.
The body of President Raeisi will be transferred to the city of Birjand in eastern Iran for a procession on early Thursday before it reaches his hometown of Mashhad in the northeast for a burial planned for the evening that day.
