Thousands bid farewell to Iran’s Raisi ahead of burial

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Thousands marched in Iran on the final day of funeral rites for president Ebrahim Raisi, who will be laid to rest in his hometown days after dying in a helicopter crash.

Raisi, 63, died on Sunday alongside his foreign minister and six others when their helicopter crashed in the mountainous northwest while returning from a dam inauguration.

Thousands of people, holding placards of Raisi and waving flags, marched in the eastern city of Birjand on Thursday morning to bid the president farewell.

His final resting place will be at the holy shrine of Imam Reza, a key Shiite mausoleum in the northeastern city of Mashhad, where the ultra-conservative president was born.

Images published by Iranian media on Wednesday showed officials in Mashhad preparing for the final day of funerary rites.

Large photos of Raisi, black flags and Shiite symbols were erected throughout the streets of Iran’s second city, particularly around the Imam Reza shrine.