The funeral procession for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi began on Tuesday, with events to be held across the country before he is buried in the north-eastern city of Mashhad on Thursday.
Funeral rites began in the city of Tabriz, in East Azerbaijan province, where a lorry carrying the remains of the president and his entourage were paraded through tightly packed streets as government officials gave speeches to the crowd.
Mourners also gathered in Tehran's Valiasr Square ahead of the cortege arriving in the capital on Wednesday.
The hardline president, 63, died in a helicopter crash in north-western Iran on Sunday night. Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, East Azerbaijan provincial Governor Malik Rahmati and Mohammed Ali Ale Hashem, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative to East Azerbaijan, were also killed.
State TV broadcast scenes of large crowds of mostly men in Tabriz, where streets were adorned with images of the Mr Raisi and others killed in the crash.
The remains were then flown to Tehran's Mehrabad Airport before being transferred to the holy city of Qom, where Mr Raisi studied at a seminary as a teenager.
Some Tabriz mourners held Palestinian flags, while many others held pictures of Mr Raisi with Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander Qassem Suleimani, who was killed in a US air strike in January 2020.
Mr Raisi was travelling to Tabriz when the helicopter crashed in heavy fog, near the village of Tavil. On Tuesday night, a “people's farewell” ceremony is to be held at the Imam Khomeini Mosque in Tehran.
About 70 rescue teams searched mountainous terrain on foot overnight before finding the wreckage of their Bell 212 helicopter on Monday morning.
As mourning ceremonies got under way, Iran's Assembly of Experts – a body which appoints the supreme leader – met in Tehran for the first time since elections in March, with a portrait of Mr Raisi placed on an empty seat.
The assembly appointed Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Movahedi Kermani, Tehran's Imam for Friday Prayers, as its new chairman.
Mr Raisi's body will be taken on Wednesday morning from Tehran University towards the city's Azadi Square, before a ceremony is held involving delegation of high-ranking foreign officials. Mr Khamenei will also pray over Mr Raisi's body in Tehran.
Another funeral ceremony will be held in the eastern city of Birjand, before Mr Raisi is buried in his hometown of Mashhad, state news agency Irna reported.
Five days of national mourning were declared by Mr Khamenei following the death of the president, who was widely expected to succeed the 85-year-old as supreme leader.
Iranian authorities have declared Wednesday to be a national holiday. The second Wednesday in June has also been declared an official holiday from now on.
National exams scheduled for this week have been cancelled and governors may decide to “close” provinces where funeral ceremonies are held, Iran said.
While flags are flying at half-mast and black banners have been raised at shrines in Qom, where Mr Raisi studied in a seminary as a teenager, the mood among the Iranian public has varied.
Mr Raisi was unpopular with many and was known as the “butcher of Tehran” for his role in the execution of about 5,000 political detainees in the 1980s.
More recently, the arrest and killing of demonstrators during the Mahsa Amini protests, and the tightening of restrictions on women's freedoms, also hardened opposition towards the president.
Critics of the regime have held events outside Iranian embassies in the UK and Canada since his death was announced.
Iran's First Vice President Mohammed Mokhber was named interim president, while Ali Bagheri Kani, who lead Iran's nuclear negotiations with western powers, has replaced Mr Amirabdollahian as foreign minister.
Iran is to hold presidential elections on June 28. Iran held parliamentary polls in March that were marred by a record low turnout of voters, with public apathy compounded by crackdowns on critics of the regime and an economy hit hard by sanctions.
Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
- Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
- Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
- Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
THE CARD
2pm: Maiden Dh 60,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
2.30pm: Handicap Dh 76,000 (D) 1,400m
3pm: Handicap Dh 64,000 (D) 1,200m
3.30pm: Shadwell Farm Conditions Dh 100,000 (D) 1,000m
4pm: Maiden Dh 60,000 (D) 1,000m
4.30pm: Handicap 64,000 (D) 1,950m
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Getting%20there%20
%3Cp%3E%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenationalnews.com%2Ftravel%2F2023%2F01%2F12%2Fwhat-does-it-take-to-be-cabin-crew-at-one-of-the-worlds-best-airlines-in-2023%2F%22%20target%3D%22_self%22%3EEtihad%20Airways%20%3C%2Fa%3Eflies%20daily%20to%20the%20Maldives%20from%20Abu%20Dhabi.%20The%20journey%20takes%20four%20hours%20and%20return%20fares%20start%20from%20Dh3%2C995.%20Opt%20for%20the%203am%20flight%20and%20you%E2%80%99ll%20land%20at%206am%2C%20giving%20you%20the%20entire%20day%20to%20adjust%20to%20island%20time.%20%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERound%20trip%20speedboat%20transfers%20to%20the%20resort%20are%20bookable%20via%20Anantara%20and%20cost%20%24265%20per%20person.%20%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
Section 375
Cast: Akshaye Khanna, Richa Chadha, Meera Chopra & Rahul Bhat
Director: Ajay Bahl
Producers: Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak & SCIPL
Rating: 3.5/5
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Zayed Sustainability Prize
More on animal trafficking
How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zayed Sustainability Prize
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More on Quran memorisation:
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Read more about the coronavirus
more from Janine di Giovanni
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
More on animal trafficking
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The years Ramadan fell in May
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More on Quran memorisation:
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
