Iranians mourn president, burial tomorrow

TEHRAN, May 21 (Agencies): Tens of thousands mourned Iran's president Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday after his death in a helicopter crash, amid political uncertainty ahead of an election for his successor next month.
Raisi and seven members of his entourage including foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were killed when their aircraft came down on a fog-shrouded mountainside in northern Iran on Sunday.
Waving Iranian flags and portraits of the late president, mourners marched from a central square in the northwestern city of Tabriz, where Raisi's helicopter had been headed when it crashed.
Black-clad mourners beat their chests as they walked behind a lorry carrying the coffins of Raisi and those who died with him.
"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," Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said in a speech.
Raisi's body was flown from Tabriz, the closest major city to the remote crash site, to Tehran airport before heading to the holy Shi'ite Muslim city of Qom. From there, it will return to the capital to lie at Tehran's Grand Mosalla Mosque before being transferred to his hometown of Mashahd, in eastern Iran, for burial on Thursday.
Contact with Raisi's helicopter was lost in bad weather during the return flight to Tabriz after the inauguration of a joint dam project on Iran's border with Azerbaijan, in a ceremony with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev.
A huge search and rescue operation was launched, and state television announced confirmation of his death early on Monday.
Over pictures of Raisi and as a voice recited Koranic verses, the broadcaster said "the servant of the Iranian nation, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi, has achieved the highest level of martyrdom".
As well as the president and foreign minister, provincial officials, members of Raisi's security team and the helicopter crew all died in the crash.
Armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri ordered an investigation into the crash as Iranians nationwide mourned Raisi and his entourage.
Tens of thousands of people gathered in the capital's Valiasr Square on Monday.
On Tuesday, the Assembly of Experts, a key clerical body in charge of selecting or dismissing Iran's supreme leader, held its first session since being elected in March, with the seat reserved for Raisi carrying his portrait.
Raisi, who was widely expected to succeed current supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had been a member of the body since 2006.