Iran begins days of nationwide funeral rites for President Ebrahim Raisi after helicopter crash
Thousands of mourners descended on Tabriz on Tuesday for a funeral ceremony honoring Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who perished in a helicopter crash over the weekend, leaving an indelible void in the country's leadership succession plans. Videos and photographs shared on social media and by Iran's state-owned Islamic Republic News Agency and the semiofficial Tasnim showed crowds swarming under a slate sky to observe the first funerary ceremony held for Raisi, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and others killed in the incident. CNBC did not independently verify the footage. Some mourners are shown brandishing photographs of Raisi, while others trooped b