Iran: Funeral procession for President Raisi begins

Thousands of people walked through the streets of the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz on Tuesday in a funeral procession for President Ebrahim Raisi and seven members of his entourage after their deaths in a helicopter crash.

Raisi and the country's foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, along with other officials, were found dead Monday hours after their helicopter crashed in fog in mountainous terrain, with no cause for the incident so far offered by Iranian authorities.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has ultimate authority in Iran, has declared five days of national mourning for the late president.

Khamenei also picked Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, 68, to assume interim duties ahead of elections that state media say will be held on June 28.

How is Iran mourning Raisi?

Raisi's body will be taken from Tabriz to the Shiite pilgrimage city of Qom on Tuesday before being moved to the capital, Tehran.

Khamenei is scheduled to hold prayers at a farewell ceremony in Tehran on Tuesday night, with major processions planned to begin on Wednesday morning.

The body of Raisi will then be taken to Southern Khorasan province on Thursday morning before arriving in his hometown of Mashhad, where the burial is to take place on Thursday evening after funerary rites.

The fatal helicopter crash occurred after Raisi, 63, had attended the inauguration of a joint dam project on the Aras river in a ceremony with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev.

Germany's Scholz sends condolences

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, meanwhile, offered his condolences to Iran over Raisi's death.

"Our condolences go to the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the families of those killed in the crash," Scholz said in a message addressed to Iran's Vice President Mohammad Mokhber.

tj/rmt (AFP, dpa)