(BBC News) Thousands of Iranians gathered on the streets of Tabriz to mourn President Ebrahim Raisi after he was killed in a helicopter crash.
Mourners followed a funeral procession through the city in northwest Iran while waving Iranian flags and portraits of the late president.
Raisi and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash in a mountainous area of Iran on Sunday.
On Tuesday, crowds of mourners followed a lorry carrying the coffins of Raisi and those who died with him, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said in a speech: “We, the members of the government, who had the honour to serve this beloved president, the hardworking president, pledge to our dear people and leader to follow the path of these martyrs.”
From Tabriz, Raisi’s body will be flown to Qom, which is considered the second most sacred city in Iran after Mashhad. His body will then be moved to Iran’s capital Tehran.
Processions will be held in the city on Wednesday morning, and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will lead prayers at a farewell ceremony.
Raisi is expected to be buried in his birthplace, Mashhad, on Thursday.
The helicopter crashed on Sunday, close to the border with Azerbaijan, where Raisi had been meeting the country’s President Ilham Aliyev.
According to local media, he was there to open the Qiz Qalasi and Khoda Afarin dams.
Killed alongside the president and the foreign minister were provincial officials, members of his security team, and flight crew.
Raisi, 63, was a hard-line cleric, and his election as president in 2021 consolidated the control of conservatives over every part of the Islamic Republic.
State media has said elections will be held on June 28 to choose a new president.
In the meantime, Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber has been appointed to assume interim duties.
