Mashhad, Iran - May 23, 2024

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash on Sunday, will be buried on Thursday in the holy city of Mashhad, his hometown, after two days of funeral services that have drawn hundreds of thousands of people.

The remains of the leader, seen as a possible successor to the country's 85-year-old supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, will rest in the main Shiite mausoleum in the northeast of the country, that of Imam Reza.
In power since 2021, Raisi died at the age of 63 when the helicopter carrying him to the northwestern city of Tabriz crashed after inaugurating with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliev, a dam on the border between the two countries.

The crash killed all eight occupants of the aircraft, including Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, who will be buried at the shrine of Shah Abdolazim in the city of Rey, south of Tehran.
Images published in Iranian media showed the Mashhad municipal authorities preparing the holy city for the last day of funeral celebrations in honour of the late president.

Giant portraits of Raisi, black flags and Shiite symbols line the streets of the Islamic Republic's second city.

SHOTLIST:
1. Various Iranians participate in Raisi's funeral.