Iranians mourn late president

Farewell services to include funeral and burial ceremony for Raisi on Thursday

Massive crowds filled the main square of Tabriz in northwestern Iran as well as mosques in Teheran and elsewhere on Tuesday as Iranians prayed for and held funeral ceremonies for President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who were killed on Sunday in a helicopter crash.

Raisi and Amir-Abdollahian are credited with resounding achievements in foreign relations that are likely to continue even after the new presidential election that is scheduled next month, according to analysts.

Following mourning announcements by Iranian authorities tasked with arranging the services, funeral ceremonies for those who died in the crash were first conducted in Tabriz, East Azerbaijan Province, on Tuesday morning, the second day of the five-day national period of mourning.