Tens of thousands gather for Raisi funeral procession in Tehran

Tens of thousands of Iranians flocked to the streets of Tehran Wednesday to join the funeral processions of president Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage, who died in a helicopter crash on Sunday.

In the centre of the city, people holding portraits of Raisi gathered in and around the University of Tehran, where Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is due to lead prayers for Raisi and his companions, including foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

Raisi's helicopter crashed on Sunday on a fog-shrouded mountainside in northern Iran on the way to the city of Tabriz after the group attended the inauguration of a dam project on the border with Azerbaijan.

A huge search and rescue operation was launched, involving help from Turkey, Russia and the European Union. State television announced Raisi's death early on Monday.

Raisi, who was widely expected to succeed Khamenei as supreme leader, was 63.

Mourners hold up posters of the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at a Grand Mosque in Tehran. AP

In the capital, huge banners have gone up hailing the late president as "the martyr of service", while others bade "farewell to the servant of the disadvantaged".

Tehran residents received phone messages urging them to "attend the funeral of the martyr of service".

The processions, which will be attended by foreign dignitaries, are planned to set off from the university and head to the vast Enghelab Square in the city centre, according to state media.

Agence France-Presse