Dubai:

Iran started on Thursday registration of candidates for an early election next month following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi told state TV.

Once seen as a possible successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s ageing ultimate decision-maker, Raisi’s sudden death has triggered a race among hardliners to influence the selection of Iran’s next leader.

After the five-day registration period, the Guardian Council, which oversees elections and legislation, will vet the candidates running for the presidency.

“The vetting process will be seven days and then qualified candidates will have almost two weeks for the election campaign,” Vahidi told state TV. The Guardian Council will publish the list of qualified candidates on June 11.

Moderate politicians have accused the 12-member hardline Guardian Council of disqualifying rivals to hardline candidates, who are expected to dominate the upcoming presidential race.

Turnout may be hit by restricted choice on the ballot and rising discontent over an array of political, social and economic crises.

Within Iran’s complex mix of clerical rulers and elected officials, Khamenei has the final say on all state matters such as nuclear and foreign policies. But the elected president will be in charge of tackling worsening economic hardship.

The registration of candidates could include Parviz Fattah, a former Guards member who heads an investment fund linked to the leader, and Saeed Jalili, a former chief nuclear negotiator who in 2001 ran Khamenei’s office for four years, insiders said.

Interim President Mohammad Mokhber and former parliament speaker and a Khamenei adviser, Ali Larijani, have also been mentioned in Iranian media as possible candidates. Larijani was barred from standing in the 2021 presidential race.

Several low-key moderate politicians are likely to enter the race.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Dubai:

Iran’s late President Ebrahim Raisi is set to be buried in the holy city of Mashhad on Thursday, four days after he was killed in a helicopter crash along with foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and six other people.

Raisi’s coffin was flown to Mashhad in northeast Iran after a funeral procession was held for him today morning in the eastern city of Birjand, where thousands paid their respects as his remains were driven through the streets in a motorcade.

A guard of honour stood to attention as the plane carrying Raisi’s coffin arrived in Mashhad, his hometown, where he will be laid to rest at the gold-domed Imam Reza shrine, the holiest Islamic site in Iran and revered by Shi’ite Muslims as the resting place of the 9th century Imam Ali al-Reza.

Raisi, 63, was widely seen as a candidate to succeed 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who wields ultimate power in Iran. Mohammad Mokhber, who had been first vice president, is serving as interim president until a June election.

Eight passengers and crew were killed when the helicopter crashed in mountainous terrain near the Azerbaijan border.

A ceremony was held to commemorate Amirabdollahian at the foreign ministry in Tehran, where acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani described him as a martyr who had “guaranteed the revolutionary nature of the foreign ministry”.

Amirabdollahian will be buried south of Tehran in the Shah Abdolazim shrine, a mausoleum where notable Iranian politicians and artists are buried.

Iran proclaimed five days of mourning for Raisi, who enacted the hardline policies of his mentor Khamenei aimed at entrenching clerical power, cracking down on opponents, and adopting a tough line on foreign policy issues such as nuclear talks with Washington to revive Iran’s 2015 nuclear pact.

The presidential election has been scheduled for June 28.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mourners attend the funeral of Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, in Tehran on May 22, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Iran on May 23 prepared to inter its late President at the holiest site for Shiite Muslims in the Islamic Republic, a final sign of respect for a protege of Iran’s supreme leader killed in a helicopter crash earlier this week.

President Ebrahim Raisi’s burial at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad caps days of processionals through much of Iran, seeking to bolster the country’s theocracy after the crash killing him, the country’s Foreign Minister and six others.

However, the services have not drawn the same crowd as those who gathered for services for Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani in 2020, slain by a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad.

It’s a potential sign of the public’s feelings about Raisi’s presidency that saw the government harshly crack down on all dissent during protests over the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, detained for allegedly not wearing her mandatory headscarf to authorities’ liking.

That crackdown, as well as Iran’s struggling economy, have gone unmentioned in the hours of coverage provided by state television and in newspapers. Also never discussed was Raisi’s involvement in the mass execution of an estimated 5,000 dissidents at the end of the Iran-Iraq war.

Prosecutors have warned people against showing any public signs of celebrating Raisi’s death and a heavy security force presence has been seen in Tehran since the crash.

On May 23 morning, thousands in black gathered along a main boulevard in the city of Birjand, Raisi’s hometown in Iran’s South Khorasan Province along the Afghan border. A semitruck bore his casket down the street, with mourners reaching out to touch it and tossing scarves and other items to be placed against it for a blessing. A sign on the truck read, “This is the shrine.” Later, Raisi will be buried at the Imam Reza Shrine, where Shiite Islam’s 8th imam is buried. The region, for long, has been associated with Shiite pilgrimmage. A hadith attributed to Islam’s Prophet Mohammad saysm anyone with sorrow or sin will be relieved through by visiting there.

In 2016, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei appointed Raisi to run the Imam Reza charity foundation, which manages a vast conglomerate of businesses and endowments in Iran, as well as oversees the shrine. It is one of many bonyads, or charitable foundations, fuelled by donations or assets seized after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

These foundations offer no public accounting of their spending and answer only to Iran’s supreme leader. The Imam Reza charity, known as “Astan-e Quds-e Razavi” in Farsi, is believed to be one of the biggest in the country. Analysts estimate its worth at tens of billions of dollars as it owns almost half the land in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city.

Raisi will be the first top politician in the country to be buried at the shrine, which represents a major honor for the cleric.

The death of Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and six others in the crash on Sunday comes at a politically sensitive moment for Iran, both at home and abroad.

Raisi, who was 63, had been discussed as a possible successor to Iran’s supreme leader, the 85-year-old Khamenei. None of Iran’s living past presidents — other than Khamenei, who was President from 1981 until 1989 — could be seen in state television footage of Wednesday’s prayers. The authorities gave no explanation for their apparent absence.

Iran has set June 28 as the next presidential election. For now, there’s no clear favorite for the position among Iran’s political elite — particularly no one who is a Shiite cleric, like Raisi. Acting President Mohammad Mokhber, a relatively unknown first vice president until Sunday’s crash, has stepped into his role and even attended a meeting between Khamenei and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on May 22.

The funeral of Iran President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and others killed in helicopter crash will be held tomorrow at Tehran University, in the capital city of Iran. 

India’s vice president Jagdeep Dhankar will fly to Iran to attend the funeral of Raisi and others in the capital city. At Tehran university, the funeral will be led by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following which the procession will go to Maidan-e-Azadi (Azadi Square). 

The people of Tehran will pay tribute to Raisi, Hossein Amir Abdollahian and others. Ten and thousand of mourners have alreadt gathered, waving Iranian flags and portraits of the late president. 

The mourners marched in the northwestern city of Tabriz, where Raisi’s helicopter had been headed when it crashed.

Ashraf Zaidi, an expert on Iran affairs, said that their bodies will be kept in The Sa’dabad Complex – the presidential complex – from 3 pm to 6 pm, where guests from other countries will pay their tributes.

On Thursday, people will pay homage to Raisi and others in Mashhad city. Later, in the evening, Raisi along with others will be laid to rest at the Shrine of Imam-e-Raza.

Raisi and Amir Abdollahian were among nine people who died after their helicopter crashed in Iran’s mountainous northwest area while they were returning from the Azerbaijan border after flagging off joint projects in the region.

After the wreckage was found by rescuers, their bodies were first brought to Tabriz city, where thousands of people paid tribute. The bodies were later brought to the Holy Shrine of Masooma e Qum in Qum city for homage.

Many countries including India mourned Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi with several nations declaring state mourning. India also observed state mourning today, while national flag was flown at half mast on all government buildings including the Rashtrapati Bhavan. 

#WATCH | Delhi: National flag at Rashtrapati Bhavan flies at half-mast as one-day national mourning is being observed in the country following the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister and other high-ranking officials in a helicopter crash. pic.twitter.com/xZZXGiCdpv

— ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2024

Foreign minister S Jaishankar visited the Iranian embassy in Delhi  today to convey “deepest condolences on the tragic passing away of President Ebrahim Raisi and my colleague, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.”

Visited the Embassy of Iran in Delhi today to convey our deepest condolences on the tragic passing away of President Ebrahim Raisi and my colleague, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

They will always be remembered as friends of India who contributed immensely to the… pic.twitter.com/twLg2OXoFq

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (Modi Ka Parivar) (@DrSJaishankar) May 21, 2024

While one day state mourning was observed in Pakistan and Iraq, three days of national mourning was also declared in Syria and Lebanon, and five days in Iran.

Leaders who paid tributes 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, China’s President Xi Jinping, King Salman and Mohammed bin Salman from Saudi Arabia, President Syria Bashar al-Assad including Iraq, Lebnon, Jordan, Egypt, European Union, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Qatar, Sudan, Turkey, Venezuela, Yemen, UN paid their tributes.

Religious leaders also paid tributes 

Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome, the Pope and head of the Catholic Church, also sent a telegram message expressing his condolences on the deaths of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, the country’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and all those killed in the May 19 helicopter crash. 

Senior Shia cleric in Iraq, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, also expressed “deep condolences” over the death of Iran president and others killed in the crash.

The funeral of Iran President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and others killed in helicopter crash will be held tomorrow at Tehran University, in the capital city of Iran. 

India’s vice president Jagdeep Dhankar will fly to Iran to attend the funeral of Raisi and others in the capital city. At Tehran university, the funeral will be led by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following which the procession will go to Maidan-e-Azadi (Azadi Square). 

The people of Tehran will pay tribute to Raisi, Hossein Amir Abdollahian and others. Ten and thousand of mourners have alreadt gathered, waving Iranian flags and portraits of the late president. 

The mourners marched in the northwestern city of Tabriz, where Raisi’s helicopter had been headed when it crashed.

Ashraf Zaidi, an expert on Iran affairs, said that their bodies will be kept in The Sa’dabad Complex – the presidential complex – from 3 pm to 6 pm, where guests from other countries will pay their tributes.

On Thursday, people will pay homage to Raisi and others in Mashhad city. Later, in the evening, Raisi along with others will be laid to rest at the Shrine of Imam-e-Raza.

Raisi and Amir Abdollahian were among nine people who died after their helicopter crashed in Iran’s mountainous northwest area while they were returning from the Azerbaijan border after flagging off joint projects in the region.

After the wreckage was found by rescuers, their bodies were first brought to Tabriz city, where thousands of people paid tribute. The bodies were later brought to the Holy Shrine of Masooma e Qum in Qum city for homage.

Many countries including India mourned Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi with several nations declaring state mourning. India also observed state mourning today, while national flag was flown at half mast on all government buildings including the Rashtrapati Bhavan. 

#WATCH | Delhi: National flag at Rashtrapati Bhavan flies at half-mast as one-day national mourning is being observed in the country following the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister and other high-ranking officials in a helicopter crash. pic.twitter.com/xZZXGiCdpv

— ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2024

Foreign minister S Jaishankar visited the Iranian embassy in Delhi  today to convey “deepest condolences on the tragic passing away of President Ebrahim Raisi and my colleague, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.”

Visited the Embassy of Iran in Delhi today to convey our deepest condolences on the tragic passing away of President Ebrahim Raisi and my colleague, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

They will always be remembered as friends of India who contributed immensely to the… pic.twitter.com/twLg2OXoFq

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (Modi Ka Parivar) (@DrSJaishankar) May 21, 2024

While one day state mourning was observed in Pakistan and Iraq, three days of national mourning was also declared in Syria and Lebanon, and five days in Iran.

Leaders who paid tributes 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, China’s President Xi Jinping, King Salman and Mohammed bin Salman from Saudi Arabia, President Syria Bashar al-Assad including Iraq, Lebnon, Jordan, Egypt, European Union, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Qatar, Sudan, Turkey, Venezuela, Yemen, UN paid their tributes.

Religious leaders also paid tributes 

Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome, the Pope and head of the Catholic Church, also sent a telegram message expressing his condolences on the deaths of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, the country’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and all those killed in the May 19 helicopter crash. 

Senior Shia cleric in Iraq, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, also expressed “deep condolences” over the death of Iran president and others killed in the crash.

Cars drive past a billboard bearing a portrait of Iran’s late president Ebrahim Raisi, centre, his Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, second from left, and other members of his entrourage in central Tehran on May 21, 2024, as mourners in the northestern city of Tabriz attended a funeral procession for the President and seven others who were killed with him in a helicopter accident two days ago.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Being Iran’s President is not easy. The highest elected office in the country is not the most powerful one. The President is answerable to the Supreme Leader, who is appointed by a body of senior clerics. The President’s main responsibility is to run the day-to-day affairs of the country, especially its crisis-ridden, sanctions-hit economy. The President also has to run a delicate foreign policy in a hostile region where its only national state ally is Syria, which itself has been battered by years of civil war. The President has to do a lot of balancing acts at home as well, keeping the link between popular legitimacy and clerical rule alive, while also working with the security apparatus, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), to protect Tehran’s key geopolitical interests.

Also read: A brief look at the life of Ebrahim Raisi

Ebrahim Raisi, the 63-year-old hardline cleric who became Iran’s eighth President in August 2021, was doing just that, until May 19, 2024, when he was killed in a helicopter crash. In many ways, Iran’s clerical establishment found a near-perfect leader in Raisi. He was an ideologically committed loyal servant of Iran’s theocratic system. A cleric and a close confidant of the Supreme Leader, Raisi was seen as a potential successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. And his death comes as a massive shock for the Islamic Republic.

Immediate priority

Iran faces three broad challenges in the wake of Raisi’s death. Tehran’s immediate priority is to put in place an orderly transition so that the “nation would not be disrupted at all”, as Mr. Khamenei has said. According to the Constitution, if the President is incapacitated, the First Vice-President would assume interim duties and fresh elections should be held in 50 days. Mr. Khamenei has already approved First Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber as acting head of the executive branch of the state. Now, it’s the responsibility of Mr. Mokhber, parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei to hold elections within the timeframe. Authorities have already announced that elections would be held on June 28.

When Raisi became President, all branches of Iran’s government — executive, judiciary and legislature — came under the control of conservatives. In the parliamentary elections held earlier this year, conservatives retained their dominance. But what worries the establishment is the dwindling turnout. For years, Iran’s clerical leadership would use high voter turnout as a marker of legitimacy for the country’s system. If the voter turnout was 85% in the 2009 presidential elections, it fell to 48% in 2021 when Raisi was elected. When the country is preparing to hold a snap election, the establishment would like to see not just the election of another conservative as President but also a high turnout.

Larger transition

Secondly, Raisi’s abrupt death did disrupt Iran’s bigger transition plans as well. Mr. Khamenei, the most powerful man in Iran, is 85 years old and ailing. He became the Supreme Leader in 1989 when Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic died. Many Iran watchers saw Raisi as an ideal candidate to succeed Mr. Khamenei. Raisi was relatively young, ideologically committed, had the blessings of the establishment and successfully negotiated between the different branches of the state and made his standing more powerful ever since his election. But now, Iran has to start from scratch to find Mr. Khamenei’s successor. Different names are being added to the list, including Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the Supreme Leader, and Alireza Arafi, an influential white-turbaned cleric who heads Friday prayers at the Qom Shia seminary.

Regional dynamics

Lastly, Raisi’s death comes at a time when regional tensions are at an all-time high. After the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7, 2023, regional focus shifted to Iran’s support of non-state actors in West Asia, including Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis. Last month, Iran launched an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel, after its consulate in Damascus was struck and officers killed. Hezbollah, which is directly backed by Iran, is fighting a slow-burning war with Israel on its northern border. Houthis, the Yemeni militia backed by Iran, is carrying out attacks targeting vessels in the Red Sea, “in solidarity with Palestinians”.

In recent months, Iran has flexed its muscles both through its proxies and directly in the region. A change in presidency is unlikely to alter Iran’s overall security doctrine, which has been laid out by the clerical and military establishment. But for the smooth implementation of this multi-layered security strategy, which involves both state and non-state actors, in a hostile region, Iran needs a cohesive national leadership. The challenge before the Ayatollahs is to stay the political course irrespective of the disruptions.

New Delhi:

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar will fly to Iran on Wednesday to attend an official ceremony to pay condolences on the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

A one-day state mourning is being observed across India on Tuesday as a mark of respect for Mr Raisi.

“Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar will pay a visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran on May 22 to attend official ceremony to pay condolences on the tragic demise of President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other Iranian officials in an unfortunate helicopter crash on May 19,” an MEA statement said on Tuesday.

President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have conveyed their condolences on the demise of Raisi. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited the embassy of Iran in Delhi on Tuesday to convey India’s condolences on the loss.

The Iranian president, the country’s foreign minister and several other officials were found dead on Monday, hours after their helicopter crashed in a foggy, mountainous region in the northwestern part of the country, Iran state media reported.

Mr Raisi, 63, and his entourage were heading to the city of Tabriz after returning from a visit to a locality on the Azerbaijan-Iran border on Sunday.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

People attend a funeral ceremony for the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tabriz, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran, May 21, 2024.
| Photo Credit: via Reuters

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 honouring 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, and also attended his funeral 10 years later. 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.

ALSO READ | Ebrahim Raisi: A hardline President who had the backing of Iran’s clerical establishment

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 presidential 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.

“Raisi’s death comes at a moment when the Islamist regime is consolidated,” wrote Alex Vatanka, an Iran expert at the Middle East Institute. “In short, there will be no power vacuum in Tehran; nonetheless, post-Khamenei Iran suddenly looks far less predictable than it did just a few days ago.”

A procession Tuesday morning led by a semitruck carrying the caskets of the dead slowly moved through the narrow streets of downtown Tabriz, the closest major city near the site of the crash Sunday. Thousands in black slowly walked beside the coffins, some throwing flowers up to them as an emcee wept through a loudspeaker for men he described as martyrs.

The bodies will travel on to the holy Shiite seminary city of Qom before traveling to Tehran later Tuesday. On Wednesday, a funeral presided over by Khamenei will then turn into a procession as well.

It remains unclear what international presence that funeral will draw, as Raisi faced U.S. sanctions for his part in mass executions in 1988 and for abuses targeting protesters and dissidents while leading the country’s judiciary. Iran under Raisi also shipped bomb-carrying drones to Russia to be used in its war on Ukraine.

EDITORIAL | Death of a President: On Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi

“I don’t feel comfortable sending condolences while Iran is sending drones that are used against civilians in Ukraine,” wrote Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis on the social platform X.

On Thursday, Raisi’s hometown of Birjand will see a procession, followed by a funeral and burial at the Imam Reza shrine in the holy city of Mashhad, the only imam of the Shiite’s faith buried in Iran.

That shrine has long been a centre for pilgrims and sees millions visit each year. Over the centuries, its grounds have served as the final burial site for heroes in Persian history. It’s an incredibly high, rare honour in the faith. Iranian President Mohammad-Ali Rajai, the only other president to die in office when he was killed in a 1981 bombing, was buried in Tehran.

Iran’s theocracy declared five days of mourning, encouraging people to attend the public mourning sessions. Typically, government employees and schoolchildren attend such events en masse, while others take part out of patriotism, curiosity or to witness historic events.

Across Iran, its rural population often more closely embraces the Shiite faith and the government. However, Tehran has long held a far different view of Raisi and his government’s policies as mass protests have roiled the capital for years.

The most recent involved the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a woman detained over her allegedly loose headscarf, or hijab. The monthslong security crackdown that followed the demonstrations killed more than 500 people and saw over 22,000 detained. In March, a United Nations investigative panel found that Iran was responsible for the “physical violence” that led to Amini’s death. Meanwhile, Iran’s rial currency has cratered after the collapse of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, destroying people’s savings and pensions.

On Sunday night, as news of the helicopter crash circulated, some offered anti-government chants in the night. Fireworks could be seen in some parts of the capital, though Sunday also marked a remembrance for Imam Reza, which can see them set off as well. Critical messages and dark jokes over the crash also circulated online.

Iran’s top prosecutor has already issued an order demanding cases be filed against those “publishing false content, lies and insults” against Raisi and others killed in the crash, according to the semiofficial ISNA news agency.

No cause has yet been offered by Iran’s government for the crash, which took place in a foggy mountain range in a decadesold helicopter. Iranian presidents including hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Abolhasan Banisadr both survived their own helicopter crashes while in office.

Iran’s military, not its civil aviation authority, will investigate and later offer a report, authorities say. Iran’s civil air crash investigators faced widespread international criticism over their reports on the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane by an air defense battery in 2020 after Soleimani’s killing.

Meanwhile Tuesday, Iran’s new Assembly of Experts opened its first session after an election that decided the new assembly, a panel of which both Raisi and the late Tabriz Friday leader Mohammad Ali Ale-Heshem were members. A flower-ringed portrait sat on the seat Raisi would have occupied at the meeting of the 88-member panel, which is tasked with selecting the country’s next supreme leader. Also attending was Iran’s acting President Mohammad Mokhber.