‘Profoundly Disheartened’: World Leaders Grieve Iran’s Raisi, FM after Helicopter Crash

‘It wasn’t us!’, declares Israel as condolences pour in from around the globe following the news of Raisi’s death.

World leaders have communicated their sympathies on the passing of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.

Salvage groups started looking for Raisi on Sunday evening after his airplane, which likewise conveyed nine different authorities, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, disappeared in Iran’s uneven northwestern locale close to the Azerbaijan line.

On Monday morning, alleviation laborers found the missing helicopter. State television announced that the president’s body and that of the others on board had been recognized.

Iran’s Preeminent Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will currently have to move rapidly to supplant the nation’s administration, with Tehran exploring elevated strains in the Center East and the gamble of open clash with Israel.

Israel’s conflict against Hamas in Gaza has started lower-level struggles with Iran-supported gatherings, like Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen. Last month, Iran and Israel traded direct strikes at each other.

Responding after the affirmation of Raisi’s demise, an Israeli authority told the Reuters news organization that Israel was not involved.

“It wasn’t us,” announced the anonymous authority.

Here are a few different responses to the president’s demise from across the world:

Hamas
The Palestinian gathering conveyed its “most profound sympathies and fortitude to Khamenei, the public authority and the Iranian nation for “this enormous misfortune”.

It lauded Raisi and Amirabollahian for supporting Palestine against Israel and communicated certainty that Iran’s “well established organizations” will survive “the repercussions of this incredible misfortune”.

Yemen’s Houthis

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthi’s Supreme Revolutionary Committee, expressed his “deepest condolences” to the Iranian people and the families of the officials who died in the crash.

Al-Houthi added his certainty that Iran would continue “adhering to the loyal leaders of their people, by God’s will”.

Iraq

“We express our solidarity with the brotherly Iranian people and the officials of the Islamic Republic during this painful tragedy,” Prime Minister Shia al-Sudani said in a statement.

Pakistan

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif pronounced a day of grieving in Pakistan.

“May the martyred spirits rest in brilliant harmony. The incomparable Iranian country will defeat this misfortune with standard fortitude,” Sharif composed on X.

Qatar

Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani expressed his condolences to the people of Iran.

“Asking God Almighty for mercy and forgiveness for [those killed] and for their families with patience and solace. We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return,” he wrote on X.

Russia

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed condolences over the death of two top officials he called “reliable friends” of Russia.

“Their role in strengthening mutually beneficial Russian-Iranian cooperation and trusting partnership is invaluable,” Lavrov said.

“We genuinely stretch out our sympathies to the families and companions of the people in question, as well with respect to the whole accommodating individuals of Iran. Our contemplations and hearts are with you in this miserable hour.”

President Vladimir Putin joined Lavrov in offering Tehran condolences.

“Raisi was an outstanding politician whose entire life was dedicated to serving his homeland,” Putin said in a letter to Khamenei, published on the Kremlin’s website.

“As a true friend of Russia, he made an invaluable personal contribution to the development of good-neighbourly relations between our countries, and made great efforts to take them to the level of a strategic partnership,” he added.

India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “deeply saddened and shocked” by Raisi’s death.

“His contribution to strengthening the India-Iran bilateral relationship will always be remembered. My heartfelt condolences to his family and the people of Iran. India stands with Iran in this time of sorrow,” Modi wrote on X.

China

President Xi Jinping called the “tragic death” of Raisi “a great loss to the Iranian people and the Chinese people have lost a good friend”, according to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Malaysia

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he was “deeply saddened” by the news, noting that he had the “honour” of meeting Raisi last November.

“His dedication to justice, peace, and the upliftment of the ummah [the Islamic community] was truly inspiring. We committed ourselves to bolstering Malaysia-Iran relations, working together for the betterment of our peoples and the Muslim world. Our pledge will be fulfilled,” Ibrahim said.

Turkey

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan expressed condolences and said Ankara had been in contact with Iran since hearing about the crash on Sunday.

He said Turkey’s relevant institutions, including the defence ministry and the disaster management authority, tried “their best but unfortunately, we weren’t able to hear good news,” he told a joint news conference with his Pakistani counterpart, Ishaq Dar, in Islamabad.

European Union

President of the European Council, Charles Michel, expressed the bloc’s “sincere condolences” for the death of Raisi, Amirabollahian and the other Iranian officials who died in the crash.