Iran's supreme leader guides funeral service for president killed in helicopter crash

KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait, May 22 (UPI) -- Iran's supreme leader led prayers at a funeral service in Tehran Wednesday for the country's president and others killed in a helicopter crash, with foreign leaders, including the head of Hamas, in attendance.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led the service at Tehran University, reciting the ritual prayer for the deceased -- "O Allah, we know nothing of him but good" -- over the flag-draped coffins.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was killed Sunday in the crash in mountainous terrain near the Azerbaijan border along with eight other people, including the country's foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian.

After the prayer service, huge crowds of mourners waving flags and portraits of Raisi joined a procession carrying the coffins to Tehran's Freedom Square.

Funeral events for the 63-year-old hardline cleric, who had been seen as a potential successor to Khamenei, began on Tuesday in the northeastern city of Tabriz. Raisi will be buried on Thursday in his home city of Mashhad.

Iran hosted dozens of foreign delegations for the funeral, state-owned media reported. Among them was Ismail Haniyeh, the chief political leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas, who gave a eulogy at Tehran University.

Haniyeh offered condolences and recalled a meeting with Raisi during Ramadan during which he said that Palestine is the foremost issue among Muslims globally and that the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas targeted "the heart of Israel."

The Hamas leader, who is potentially facing an arrest warrant requested by the International Criminal Court on Monday, had a private meeting with Khamenei after the ceremony.

Also at the funeral ceremony were Lebanese militant group Hezbollah's second-in-command, Qaim Nassem, and top officials from countries including Qatar, Turkmenistan, Tunisia, Iraq, Pakistan, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Hassan Shoukry made his first visit to Iran for the occasion as well. Diplomatic ties between Tehran and Cairo were severed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, but both countries have discussed restoring relations in recent months.

Raisi's death comes as Iran faces a fraught period of domestic discontent and regional tensions. Vice President Mohammad Mokhber will serve as interim leader until an election is held on June 28.

The conservative cleric was known by his critics as the Butcher of Tehran for his involvement in Iran's mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988.

After winning office in 2021, Raisi oversaw a crackdown on dissent that included the September 2022 police killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after being beaten by authorities over violating the country's draconian hijab laws.

The United States offered terse "official condolences" earlier this week, but State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Raisi has "blood on his hands" for his involvement in suppressing dissent.

Other human rights and opposition groups also spoke out against Raisi's brutal record.

"The curse of mothers and those seeking justice for the executed, along with the damnation of the Iranian people and history, mark the legacy of Ebrahim Raisi," said Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran.

His death "will trigger a series of repercussions and crises within theocratic tyranny, which will spur rebellious youths into action," she said in a statement.

State media said the crash of the Bell 212 helicopter carrying Raisi and the others was due to "technical failure," while the Iranian military announced that it had launched an investigation and sent a team to the site.

On Tuesday, the official IRNA news agency offered more details of the crash, which appeared to further the theory that bad weather was the cause.

Presidential Chief of Staff Gholam Hossein Esmaili, who rode in another helicopter in the convoy, said that weather conditions were perfect when the choppers took off. After 45 minutes into the flight, however, Raisi's helicopter disappeared into heavy clouds and couldn't be reached by radio.

The remaining two helicopters circled the area until being forced to land at a nearby copper mine due to poor visibility, Esmaili said.