Raisi and His Associates at the End Point; Khamenei Prays Funeral Prayer for His 'Valuable' President

The bodies of the closest and 'most valuable' officials of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic are set to be buried, while their funeral ceremony and the funeral prayer that Ali Khamenei performed for them were filled with controversy, similar to previous funeral prayers. During the ceremony, broadcast live on the Islamic Republic's state television, Ali Khamenei recited a phrase during the 'funeral prayer' for the corpses of Ebrahim Raisi and his associates that he did not read during the funeral prayer for Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. At the end of the prayer, he recited the phrase 'O Allah, we do not know anything about them except good,' while for Hashemi Rafsanjani, he had recited a section of forgiveness with the mention of 'Your forgiveness' nine times. Most senior officials of the Islamic Republic were present at the ceremony, but the absence of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mohammad Khatami, and Hassan Rouhani drew attention. Ahmadinejad had appeared at the Assembly of Experts ceremony in a white shirt, which provoked criticism from hardline forces. Another controversial aspect of the ceremony was the speech by Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas's political bureau, before the prayer, which was accompanied by chants of 'Death to Israel' and references to Raisi and Amir-Abdollahian's support for Hamas. Images of Hassan Khomeini and Qaani together also attracted attention. The bodies of Ebrahim Raisi, whom Ali Khamenei called a 'valuable' president, and Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, whom the Islamic Republic refers to as the 'Minister of Resistance,' along with other victims of the helicopter crash in the northwestern forests of Iran, were brought to Tehran University on Wednesday after being paraded through various cities, so that Ali Khamenei could pray over them in less than five minutes and leave the location quickly. Ismail Haniyeh, a senior member of the 'terrorist' group Hamas, and Naim Qassem, deputy of Hezbollah in Lebanon, were foreign guests at this 'feast of death.' Contrary to the claims of state media, neither Vladimir Putin nor Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose drone played a significant role in locating the helicopter wreckage, attended to offer condolences in Tehran. Khamenei, who began Wednesday with the funeral prayer for his close associates, also visited Ebrahim Raisi's home in the evening to express condolences to his family. According to images published in Iranian media, Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad and the father of Raisi's wife, was present at this meeting. Meanwhile, the government did not cease its intimidation and threats against the people, summoning, threatening, and detaining many for celebrating Raisi's death. Shirin Najafi, the sister of Hadith Najafi, one of the victims of the protests against the killing of Mahsa Amini in Alborz province, reported on Wednesday that her bank accounts had been closed on the pretext of 'legal authorities' orders. Previously, several families of victims had reacted to the helicopter crash and Raisi's death by publishing videos of dancing and celebrating, which reportedly led Islamic Republic officials to threaten some of the claimants that 'we will arrest you for your reactions.' The French satirical magazine 'Charlie Hebdo' also reacted to Raisi's death and human rights violations, especially against women by the Islamic Republic in Iran, by publishing several cartoons. In one of these cartoons, which was published on Charlie Hebdo's 'X' account, a helicopter is seen falling with a hand from the sky throwing a cleric out of it, captioned: 'God exists: He saves us from the clerics.' According to the announced program of a committee known as the 'Committee for the Martyrs of Service Ceremony,' Ebrahim Raisi's body will be buried on Thursday at the shrine of the eighth Shiite Imam in Mashhad, where Raisi had served as custodian for a while. The body of Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the foreign minister of the thirteenth government, which was taken from Tehran to Mashhad on Wednesday evening, will return to Tehran after visiting the shrine of the eighth Shiite Imam for another funeral ceremony in Meydan Mashq, Tehran, and at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Shahr-e Rey and the shrine of Shah Abdol Azim. The contradictory statements continue; Esmaeili: We spoke with the Al-Hashem family by phone; Bazrpash: No one answered the phone. Khamenei prayed surrounded by numerous guards; Hassan Khomeini was not allowed in the front row. Blog | UN Truth-Finding Committee: Raisi's death should not lead to forgetting human rights violations in Iran. Government pressure for public mourning; mandatory business closures to participate in Raisi's 'mourning.' Amnesty International: Raisi's death should not prevent 'the Iranian people's right to achieve justice, truth, and compensation.' The Islamic Republic's security and judicial apparatus continues to confront the people for their reactions to Raisi's death.