Iran’s supreme leader presided over a funeral Wednesday for the country’s late president, foreign minister and others killed in a helicopter crash, as tens of thousands later followed a procession of their caskets through the capital, Tehran.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei held the service at Tehran University, the caskets of the dead draped in Iranian flags with their pictures on them.

Iran’s acting president, Mohammad Mokhber, stood nearby and openly wept during the service.

People then carried the coffins out on their shoulders, with chants outside of “Death to America!”

They loaded them onto a trailer for a procession through downtown Tehran to Azadi, or Freedom, Square, where Raisi gave speeches in the past.

People threw scarves and other items up for attendants on the truck to touch to the coffins for a blessing.

In attendance were top leaders of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, one of the country’s major power centers.

Also on hand was Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas. Before the funeral, Haniyeh spoke and an emcee led the crowd in the chant: “Death to Israel!”

“I come in the name of the Palestinian people, in the name of the resistance factions of Gaza … to express our condolences,” Haniyeh told those gathered.

He also recounted meeting Raisi in Tehran during Ramadan, and heard the president say the Palestinian issue remains the key one of the Muslim world.

Also expected to attend services in Tehran were Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and a delegation from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, including Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mutaqqi.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani also flew in for the ceremony, along with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Even Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry traveled to Tehran, despite diplomatic relations between the countries being severed after the 1979 revolution. Egypt and Iran have recently discussed reestablishing ties.

Raisi, 63, had been discussed as a possible successor for Iran’s supreme leader, the 85-year-old Khamenei. The only other person suggested was Khamenei’s 55-year-old son, Mojtaba.

However, concerns have been raised over the position going to a family member, particularly after the revolution overthrew the hereditary Pahlavi monarchy of the shah. – Associated Press

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting in the Kazakh capital on Tuesday that the Islamic Emirate should adhere to the principle of inclusiveness and respect the rights of all Afghans.

“The Contact Group for Afghanistan should be revived in the Shanghai Organization (SCO) in order to create a platform for practical cooperation,” he said.

Dar, who was in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, for the two-day meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the SCO, also again called on the Islamic Emirate to stamp out terrorist groups in Afghanistan.

“We ask the interim government of Afghanistan to take concrete and effective measures so that the Afghan soil is not used against any country.”

The Islamic Emirate has repeatedly rejected Pakistan’s accusations and has said it does not allow Afghanistan’s soil to be used against any country.

Dar meanwhile said the Islamic Emirate should respect the principles accepted by the world, including participation and respect for the rights of all Afghans, especially women and girls.

He also called for meaningful relations between the international community and the Islamic Emirate in order to improve the economic conditions and address the humanitarian situation of Afghans.

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has ratified the national budget for fiscal year 1403 (solar year) after a “thorough review and consideration.”

This year’s national budget has been meticulously crafted to address the needs and priorities of the people, IEA spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Tuesday.

As with the previous year, the budget has been drawn up exclusively using domestic revenues.

The Ministry of Finance will, as always, incorporate the national budget for the fiscal year 1403 into the country’s financial system, Mujahid said.

All associated sectors, both ordinary and developmental, will be managed with full transparency and in accordance with standard procedures, he added.

No further details were given.