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In this photo provided by Moz news agency, rescue team members work at the crash site of a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Varazaghan, northwest Iran, on May 20. (Credit: Azin Haghighi/Moz News Agency/AP)

Funeral ceremonies for late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi following his death in a helicopter crash will begin on Tuesday, as authorities investigate the cause of the crash in a remote, foggy mountain area on Sunday morning.

Raisi’s death, along with that of the foreign minister and other officials, revealed the Islamic Republic’s hardline establishment faces an uncertain future as it faces rising regional tensions – including Israel’s war against its ally Hamas and internal dissent. Is included.

The Iranian government has organized several days of mourning that will end this week with the funeral of the 63-year-old ultraconservative cleric, who was once considered a possible successor to current supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

The funeral will begin with prayers and a procession on Tuesday in the city of Tabriz, the largest city in Iran’s northwestern region, where the helicopter crashed, according to Mohsen Mansouri, head of Iran’s funeral planning committee and vice president for executive affairs. .

The same day, the bodies of the victims will be transferred to the Shia holy city of Qom, where many of Iran’s religious elite are trained, before being flown to the capital, Tehran.

Big celebrations are planned at Tehran’s Grand Mosque this Wednesday. Mansouri declared a holiday and offices closed across the country so the processions could take place.

Raisi’s body will be taken to Mashhad’s historic Imam Reza shrine, where Ayatollah Khamenei will lead prayers, according to Mehr News.

There is no indication of what caused the crash or why so many senior Iranian government officials were traveling in the same decade-old helicopter.