Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid condolences to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Monday. Raisi and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian were confirmed dead after their helicopter crashed on Sunday. Iran’s Vice President Mansouri confirmed the news through his social media handle on X.
The PM took to his X account and said that Raisi’s contribution to fortifying India-Iran bilateral ties will always be remembered. “Deeply saddened and shocked by the tragic demise of Dr. Seyed Ebrahim Raisi, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. His contribution to strengthening India-Iran bilateral relationship will always be remembered. My heartfelt condolences to his family and the people of Iran,” Modi tweeted on X.
External affairs minister, S Jaishankar, also condoled the death of President Raisi on Monday. “Deeply shocked to hear of the passing away of Iran’s President Dr Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister H. Amir-Abdollahian in the helicopter crash. Recall my many meetings with them, most recently in January 2024. Our condolences to their families. We stand with the people of Iran at time of this tragedy,” Jaishankar wrote on X.
On Monday morning, the Iranian official media said that the helicopter was discovered fully burned, indicating that there were no survivors from the incident. According to reports, Raisi’s helicopter made a “hard landing” on Sunday. The incident happened in Iran’s East Azerbaijan region; it was originally reported 600 km northwest of Tehran, near the Azerbaijani border city of Jolfa.
According to Article 131 of Iran’s constitution, if a president dies in office, the first vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, is supposed to take over with the confirmation of the supreme leader.