Iran held the final day of funeral rites for its late president, Ebrahim Raisi, on Thursday, with thousands marching in the eastern city of Birjand to pay their last respects.

Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash alongside his foreign minister and six others on Sunday, was buried in the afternoon at the holy shrine of Imam Reza in his home city of Mashhad in the country's northeast.

Raisi had been widely expected to succeed Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as Iran's supreme leader.

International condolences

 After Raisi's death, Russia and China sent their condolences, as did Iran's allies around the region, including the Syrian government and Iran-backed militant Islamist groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

Despite ongoing tensions between Iran and the West — among other things over Tehran's military aid to Russia during its invasion of Ukraine — NATO also sent "condolences to the people of Iran," while the UN Security Council observed a minute's silence.

Opinion about Raisi even in Iran itself is heavily divided, with many highly critical of his ultra-conservative stances on social and religious issues and his involvement in the mass execution of an estimated 5,000 dissidents at the end of the Iran-Iraq war.

His time in office was marked by mass protests, deepening economic woes and unprecedented military exchanges with archenemy Israel.

Amirabdollahian, the late foreign minister, was buried in the capital Tehran on Thursday.

Ban on celebration

Among other things, Raisi oversaw a massive government crackdown on dissent during protests over the 2022 death of Jina Mahsa Amini in detention after she was allegedly found not wearing the headscarf mandatory for women. 

Prosecutors have warned people against showing any public signs of celebrating Raisi's death.  

Supreme leader Khamenei has declared five days of national mourning for Raisi's death and made Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, 68, caretaker president until a June 28 election for Raisi's successor.

tj/rt (AP, AFP, Reuters)