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Iranian President Raisi's helicopter crash

Int’l presence at funeral ceremony for late Iranian President Raisi not envisioned

It is reported that several thousand people are taking part in the procession

MOSCOW, May 21. /TASS/. A Russian delegation will not be in attendance at the funeral ceremony for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday, as the international presence during the ceremony has not been envisioned, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

"As far as I know, no international presence was envisioned [during the funeral ceremony]," Peskov told journalists in response to a question on whether President Vladimir Putin or other Russian state officials would be in attendance at the funeral.

IRNA news agency reported earlier in the day that a farewell ceremony for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was underway in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz.

According to IRNA, several thousand people are taking part in the procession. The news agency also stated that the funeral would soon spread to other Iranian cities. After Tabriz, the coffins with the bodies of the victims were to be send to Tehran for a general funeral prayer in the capital's mosque. Raisi will be buried in his hometown of Mashhad at the Imam Reza shrine.

A helicopter carrying Raisi crashed in Iran’s province of East Azerbaijan on May 19. Also on board were Iran’s top diplomat, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Governor of East Azerbaijan Malek Rahmati and Tabriz Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Al-e-Hashem.

On May 20, Head of the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran Pir Hossein Kolivand pronounced all passengers and the crew of Raisi’s helicopter dead. Iranian Vice President for Executive Affairs Mohsen Mansouri confirmed reports that the Iranian leader died in the crash.

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