East African Gazette
Tehran
The Russian officials are set to attend the final burial of President Embrahim Raisi that will take place at the Imam Reza Shrine in the Holy City of Mashhad on Thursday.
This was revealed by Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov.He said State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin will participate in the farewell ceremony for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi,
“Our Iranian friends have scheduled a farewell ceremony for tomorrow, and therefore, the Russian side will be represented by a delegation led by Volodin.” he said, adding, “He’s going there tomorrow,” the Kremlin speaker said.
In Iran thousands of people across the Country officially started moaning of their beloved President Embrahim Raisi and others who were killed in the helicopter crash.
President Raisi was killed along with other officials including Hossein Amirabdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister, Malik Rahmati, governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan Province, Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Al-Hashem, representative of the Iranian supreme leader to East Azerbaijan and Sardar Seyed Mehdi Mousavi, head of Raisi’s guard team and others suffered a hard landing on Sunday while returning from Azerbaijan
The tragic incident happened in Dizmar forest, located between the cities of Varzaqan and Jolfa in East Azerbaijan province, where the aircraft had a “rough landing” in heavy fog
Raisi 63 was from a state a visit with the Azerbaijani president to discuss an infrastructure project over the Aras River, which separates Iran and Nakhchivan
Thousands of people marched through the streets of the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz on May 21 as part of the funeral procession for President Ebrahim Raisi and seven members of his entourage after they were killed in a helicopter crash.
Earlier, it was reported that the Russian president intended to travel with strict security measures and an escort of four Sukhoi-35 planes, Russian media channels reported. However, that was later denied by the Kremlin in a flurry of conflicting reports out of Moscow.
Following the disappearance of Raisi’s helicopter on May 19, the Kremlin was quick to respond with offers of support and cooperation with its growing ally, Iran.
“Sayyid Ebrahim Raisi was an outstanding politician whose whole life was devoted to serving [his] country,” read a statement published on the Kremlin’s website on May 20.
“As a true friend of Russia, he made an invaluable personal contribution to the development of good-neighbourly relations between our countries and made great efforts to bring them to the level of strategic partnership,” the statement continued.
The stringent security measures for Putin’s trip indicate that Russia further suggests that the helicopter incident was not an accident and has offered to investigate the crash.
Earlier, Russian Secretary of the Security Council Sergei Shoigu, in a Telegram message to his Iranian counterpart, announced Russia’s readiness to help Iran find the “true” reasons behind the crash of the President’s helicopter, which suggests that the country believes that it was not an accident, Tass reported.
The official Iranian government line is that bad weather with heavy fog caused the helicopter carrying President Raisi and his delegation to crash between Varzaqan and Jolfa in East Azerbaijan Province.
The temporary leadership of Mohammad Mokhber has not suggested foul play in the death of the president and other top officials; however, comments inside Iran and outside are starting to shift from shock to accusations of a potential hit on the leadership in some cases.
About the Burial arrangement
According to the burial arraignment, Raisi’s body and others started in City of Tabriz where the incident happened, then proceeded to the Holy City of Qom
Tomorrow Wednesday, the body will be in Tehran (Imam Khomeini Mosque) and the funeral service will be presided over by the Iranian Supreme leaders Khamenei who also joined into a procession as well.
The president’s body will be buried at the Imam Reza shrine in the holy city of Mashhad on Thursday, the only imam of the Shiite faith buried in Iran.
Iranian President Mohammad-Ali Rajai, the only other president to die in office when he was killed in a 1981 bombing, was buried in Tehran.
Cause of the crass
The helicopter involved in the Crash on Sunday was a Bell 212, a two-blade aircraft capable of carrying 15 people. However, the two remaining choppers accompanying the president’s helicopter made a safe return.
Along with Iran, the Azerbaijan government is also conducting an investigation at the crash site to examine if weather checks were made before the decision to fly was taken. So far, there have been no serious allegations of sabotage and still weather is considered as the main villain.
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