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APTOPIX Iran
Mourners hold up a posters of the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at the mam Khomeini Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, May 21, 2024 during a funeral ceremony for him and his companions who were killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday in a mountainous region of the country's northwest. 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. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Mourners begin days of funerals for Iran's president and others killed in helicopter crash

Mourners began gathering Tuesday for days of funerals and processions for Iran’s late president, foreign minister and others killed in a helicopter crash

By Jon Gambrell
Published - May 21, 2024, 04:26 AM ET
Last Updated - May 27, 2024, 12:29 AM EDT

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. 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 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.

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