Thousands of people marched Thursday, May 23 in Birjand, capital of the province of Southern Khorasan, on the last day of funeral ceremonies in memory of President Ebrahim Raïssi, a few days after he was killed in a helicopter crash . In Mashhad, the second most populous city and the main holy city of Iran, where Ebrahim Raïssi was born, giant portraits of the late president, black flags and Shiite symbols were erected in the streets, notably around the shrine of Shah Abdolazim.

The day before, in Tehran, a huge crowd gathered in the center to pay a final tribute to the president celebrated as a martyr since his death. On Wednesday, a public holiday, the ceremonies began with a prayer led by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who prostrated himself before the coffins of the eight men killed in the crash.

These ceremonies took place according to the tradition of the large gatherings that marked the first forty-five years of the Islamic Republic, such as the one following the death of General Ghassem Soleimani, killed by an American strike in Iraq in 2020.

Publishing photos of the crowd on their front pages, conservative dailies hailed Thursday “epic farewells”, “farewells to paradise” for the late president, forever “in the hearts of the people”, according to the government newspaper Iran. More soberly, the reformist dailies headlined, like Sazandegi, on “the last farewell”.

No European Union country was represented

Leaders from countries across the Middle East, North Africa and Asia, including Qatar’s Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, attended a tribute ceremony in the afternoon, attended by around sixty countries. The Tunisian President, Kaïs Saïed, the first leader of this country to visit Iran since the revolution, was received by Ayatollah Khamenei.

No European Union country was represented at the ceremony, while Iran’s relations with Western countries remain very tense. Ambassadors stationed in Tehran attended a ceremony Thursday morning in tribute to the late head of diplomacy, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, organized at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ebrahim Raïssi, who has presided over Iran since 2021, died at the age of 63 in the fall of the helicopter that was taking him to Tabriz (northwest) on Sunday after attending the joint inauguration of a dam with his counterpart Azerbaijani, Ilham Aliev, on their common border.

The replacement process

The former president of the Islamic Republic, who was ayatollah, is to be buried Thursday at the shrine of Shah Abdolazim, in Rey, south of Tehran. He will rest in the country’s main Shiite mausoleum, that of Imam Reza, a place visited by millions of pilgrims each year.

At the same time, the authorities are working to organize the process of replacing Ebrahim Raïssi. Interim President Mohammad Mokhber, 68, is tasked with preparing for the presidential election, which will be held on June 28. At this stage, no political figure has publicly declared their candidacy.

The submission of presidential candidacies officially opens on May 30 and the electoral campaign begins on June 12.