Iran held President Ebrahim Raisi’s burial on Thursday, concluding a funeral process that started after his death in a helicopter crash on Sunday.
The regime’s selection of the burial site has stirred some anger among the populace, as the opulent funeral displeased citizens enduring a dire economy resulting from his policies. Iranians frustrated with living in poverty under a wealthy theocracy were further irked by Raisi’s preferred burial location near the grandfather of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Despite the discontent, the regime managed a significant turnout for Raisi’s funeral procession:
The people of Mashhad flooded to attend the funeral ceremony of martyr President #Raisi. pic.twitter.com/R0Cw7q2ZRZ
— IRNA News Agency (@IrnaEnglish) May 23, 2024
The Times of Israel noted that the turnout for Raisi’s funeral was notably smaller compared to Iranian terror master Qassem Soleimani’s, after he was killed by a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad, Iraq, in 2020. The smaller number was interpreted by TOI as a reflection of public sentiment towards Raisi’s presidency, characterized by economic hardship and harsh repression of dissent.
Khamenei prayed and spoke at the funeral, accompanied by Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the Iran-supported terrorist organization Hamas. Khamenei mourned Raisi’s “martyrdom-like passing,” though it remains questionable what Raisi martyred himself to, other than poor helicopter maintenance and questionable piloting choices.
The regime depicted Raisi as a “man of the battlefield,” according to a placard at his funeral. Besides oppressing his own unarmed citizens, Raisi’s “battlefield” activities involved supporting terrorist proxies like Hamas, Shiite militias in Iraq, and the Houthi rebels in Yemen, in a continuous undeclared war against Israel and the United States. Iran’s only direct military engagement during Raisi’s term didn’t fare well.
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The chief of Iran’s terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, nonetheless praised Raisi’s supposed battlefield leadership during another funeral on Friday for IRGC Brig. Gen. Mehdi Mousavi, who also perished in the helicopter crash.
“Martyr Raeisi actually demonstrated indescribable bravery in Operation True Promise. With the government’s powerful diplomacy, we were able to attack the heart of the arrogance,” Salami said on Friday.
Operation True Promise is Iran’s term for its unsuccessful attempt to strike Israel with hundreds of missiles and drones on April 13, in retaliation for an Israeli airstrike in Damascus, Syria, that killed several high-ranking IRGC officers. Despite regime officials and state media touting the attack as a major success, most of Iran’s weapons were intercepted, causing minimal damage.
Salami insisted that Iran remains undeterred after Raisi’s death and is “not afraid of any power,” echoed by Ayatollah Khamenei during the funeral.
An Iranian cleric delivers a sermon during a commemoration of the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash, in Tehran, Iran, on May 23, 2024. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“The resistance of the people of Gaza has impressed the world. Who would have thought that American universities would support Palestine?” Khamenei said, appealing awkwardly to Hamas supporters.
Khamenei and Haniyeh agreed that Iran’s support for Hamas would continue, alongside other “leaders of the axis of resistance.”
Iranian state media eagerly published photos of Gen. Salami and other IRGC officers meeting with representatives from Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis during Raisi’s funeral to plan their extended conflict against Israel. Palestinian terrorist groups, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, reportedly attended the meeting as well.
Iranian media indicated that the council of terrorists discussed “the latest political, social, and military situation and the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation.” The latter refers to Hamas’ widespread violence against Israeli civilians on October 7.
