Putin hails Raisi as an ‘outstanding’ leader

“Raisi was an outstanding politician whose entire life was dedicated to serving his homeland,” Putin has stated.

“As a true friend of Russia, he made an invaluable personal contribution to the development of good-neighbourly relations between our countries,” he added.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has also expressed his condolences over the death of President Raisi and his counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian.

“[Moscow] is deeply saddened by the news of the tragic death of Raisi and the head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry in a helicopter crash,” Lavrov said in a statement, adding that Russia “sincerely condoles with the families and friends of the victims, as well as all the friendly people of Iran”.

“We will always remember these outstanding political figures as true patriots of the Islamic Republic who firmly defended the interests of their state and gave their lives in selfless service to their motherland.”

“In Russia, President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran Hossein Amirabdollahian were known as true, reliable friends of our country. Their role in strengthening mutually beneficial Russian-Iranian cooperation and trustful partnership is invaluable,” Lavrov stressed.

Raisi and Amirabdollahian have died in a helicopter crash on Sunday. A total of nine people, including a provincial governor, were on board when the aircraft went down in northern Iran’s East Azerbaijan province.