Hamas, Houthi leaders, Taliban deputy PM attend Iran President’s funeral

Taliban’s Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Baradar, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, and representatives of the Iranian-backed Houthi group were among the few leaders that assembled.

In Tehran on Wednesday to attend the funeral ceremony of late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, foreign minister and other officials killed in a helicopter crash.

The prayers, attended by thousands of Iranian people, were led by the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Taliban’s Deputy Prime Minister at Raisi’s funeral

The visit of Haniyeh to Trehran came just two days after the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor said he’d seek an arrest warrant for him and others over the October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

The Iranian president, the country’s foreign minister, and several other officials were found dead on Monday, May 20, hours after their helicopter crashed in a foggy, mountainous region in the northwestern part of the country.

Hamas political leader Haniyeh pays tribute to Raisi

Raisi, 63, and his entourage were heading to Tabriz city after returning from a visit to a locality on the Azerbaijan-Iran border on Sunday when the crash happened.

Meanwhile, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar also arrived on Wednesday to attend the official ceremony to pay condolences on the death of Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash.

India also declared a one-day state mourning on Tuesday as a mark of respect for Raisi.