Thousands mourn Raisi as others celebrate his death

Thousands of Iranians turned out to mourn Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi yesterday after he was killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday.

- TOM WATLING

A video broadcast by state media showed large crowds of mourners gathering for a procession through the city of Tabriz in northwest Iran, near the site where the politician’s helicopter crashed. Raisi was one of eight passengers, including the foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who died when the helicopter went down in a mountainous region south of neighbouring Azerbaijan in foggy conditions.

Despite the huge crowds yesterday, most of whom appeared to be male, swathes of the Iranian population have been celebrating Raisi’s death on social media. It is also unclear what international presence a funeral this week will draw, as Raisi faced US 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.

“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 X/Twitter.