Iraqi Officials Feature Prominently at Raisi’s Memorial Service in Iran

A photo released by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's office shows him seated with Iranian and Iraqi officials at the memorial service.
A photo released by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's office shows him seated with Iranian and Iraqi officials at the memorial service.
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Iraqi Officials Feature Prominently at Raisi’s Memorial Service in Iran

A photo released by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's office shows him seated with Iranian and Iraqi officials at the memorial service.
A photo released by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's office shows him seated with Iranian and Iraqi officials at the memorial service.

Tehran held on Saturday a memorial service for late President Ebrahim Raisi and other officials who died in a helicopter crash last Sunday.

Iraqi officials featured prominently at the event as shown in photos released by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s office.

Khamenei was seen seated among Iraqi religious clerics and politicians. Other foreign officials were not seated among them but elsewhere at the service.

Seated in the same row as Khamenei were head of Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council Judge Faiq Zidan and major Iranian officials.

Iraq had said Zidan was traveling to Tehran to offer his condolences. President Abdul Latif Rashid had also headed to Iran with former Prime Ministers Adel Abdul Mehdi and Haidar al-Abadi and leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Bafel Talabani.

Talabani enjoys strong ties with Iraq’s pro-Iran Coordination Framework and Iran itself.

Other Iraqi officials at the service were head of the Popular Mobilization Forces Faleh al-Fayyad, head of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq Qais al-Khazali, leader of the Hikma movement Ammar al-Hakim, and Kurdish politician Adham Barzani, known for his controversial stances,

Barzani has stirred controversy for backing Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s traditional rival.



Cyclone Hits La Reunion, Blowing Away Roofs and Cutting Power

This photograph shows a view of the city of La Possession on the French overseas Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, as cyclone Garance nears on February 28, 2025. (Photo by Richard BOUHET / AFP)
This photograph shows a view of the city of La Possession on the French overseas Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, as cyclone Garance nears on February 28, 2025. (Photo by Richard BOUHET / AFP)
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Cyclone Hits La Reunion, Blowing Away Roofs and Cutting Power

This photograph shows a view of the city of La Possession on the French overseas Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, as cyclone Garance nears on February 28, 2025. (Photo by Richard BOUHET / AFP)
This photograph shows a view of the city of La Possession on the French overseas Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, as cyclone Garance nears on February 28, 2025. (Photo by Richard BOUHET / AFP)

Cyclone Garance slammed into the French overseas territory of La Reunion with top wind speeds of 155 kph (96 mph) on Friday, blowing away roofs and cutting power and access to drinking water for many residents.
The island's prefect, Patrice Latron, said there were no reports so far of any deaths.
The cyclone made landfall in the north of the Indian Ocean island, which lies off Madagascar. It exited the southwest of the island several hours later, Meteo France weather agency said.
The prefecture said 180,000 households - about 42% of the electricity utility's customers - had lost power, and nearly 10% had no access to drinking water, Reuters reported.
The prefecture said the worst of the storm had passed and a storm alert had been downgraded from the highest level, purple, to red. This meant rescue workers could now leave their shelters and start to assess damage and help those affected.
A mandatory order for residents to stay indoors remained in place and authorities expected rough weather conditions until at least the end of the day.
Top winds had dropped to 130 kph (80 mph), Meteo France said, but higher gusts were possible on the southwest of the island, with heavy rains now seen as a bigger risk.
In nearby Mauritius, authorities reopened the airport after the threat from the storm eased.