High Officials From 68 Countries Present At The Honorary Ceremony For Iranian President Raisi

Iranian President Raisi's Funeral (Photo: IRNA)

JAKARTA - High-ranking officials from at least 68 countries attended a ceremony in Tehran to pay tribute to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his colleagues. He died in a helicopter crash this week.

Citing Antara, the foreign officials were welcomed by Acting President Mohammad Mokhber, acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani and other government officials.

The ceremony was held hours after thousands of people followed the funeral process in the Iranian capital for Raisi and others who died in the crash on Sunday, May 19, including for Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

The foreign officials who attended included Emir Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Azerbaijanian President Ali Asadov.

In addition there are Tunisian President Kais Saied, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon and Lebanese parliamentary chairman Algeria, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, Mali, Russia, and Uzbekistan who also attended and paid their respects.

Meanwhile, the Turkish government was represented by Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan who attended the ceremony.

Other officials are foreign ministers from Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Venezuela, and Jordan.

On the sidelines of the funeral ceremony were Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh who then held a meeting with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Raisi, Amir-Abdollahian and others died after their helicopter crashed in northwestern Iran on Sunday due to bad weather conditions.

Authorities have ordered an investigation into the cause of the accident.

Raisi will be flown to the city of Masyhad in the northeast on Thursday morning and buried in the holy place of Imam Reza, where he served as a guard from 2016 to 2019.

Amir-Abdollahian will be buried in Shah Abdul Azim's temple in southern Tehran on Thursday morning, according to his family's request.