Photo: Qassem al-Kaabi Agence France-Presse In the Iranian city of Najaf, citizens walk in front of a commemorative poster showing the faces of President Ebrahim Raisi (left) and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (right), both of whom died in the crash of a helicopter in a mountainous and foggy region in the northwest of the country.
France Media Agency in Paris
Posted at 9:14 a.m.
- Middle East
Reactions sober or openly distressed: the world reacts Monday to the death in a helicopter crash of Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi and his Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian with other officials of the Republic Islamic, heavyweight of the Middle East.
OCI
The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (57 countries), Hissein Brahim Taha, “expresses his sincere condolences and sympathy to the government and people of Iran.”
Gulf Cooperation Council
Jassem Al-Budaiwi, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council bringing together six Arab monarchies neighboring Iran including Saudi Arabia, presents his condolences after this “tragic accident”, reaffirming “the solidarity of the GCC with the government and people of Iran in these difficult circumstances”.
The leaders of the United Arab Emirates, GCC members Qatar and Bahrain each offered their “deepest condolences” to the people and government of Iran.
NATO
“Our condolences to the Iranian people for the death of President Raïssi, Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian and others who perished in the helicopter crash,” writes Atlantic Alliance spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah , on the social network European Charles Michel presents the “sincere condolences” of the EU. “Our thoughts are with their families,” he said in a message on h2>
For Maryam Rajavi, president of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI, opposition group in exile and political showcase of the People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran), it's is a “monumental and irreparable strategic blow to the mullahs' supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and to the entire regime, known for its executions and massacres.”
Hamas
The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas presents its “condolences” to the Iranian people, hailing Ebrahim Raïssi as “support for the Palestinian resistance”, particularly since the start of the ongoing war in Gaza with Israel.
Hezbollah
Hezbollah in Lebanon offers its condolences to Iranian leaders, calling Ebrahim Raïssi “protector of resistance movements” against Israel in the region. “The martyred president was a big brother for us, a solid support.”
China
< p>For President Xi Jinping, this “tragic death is a great loss for the Iranian people” and the Chinese people have “lost a good friend,” according to Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin. He “made important contributions to maintaining Iran's security and stability, promoting national development and prosperity, and also made efforts to consolidate and develop the strategic partnership between China and Iran.”
Russia
President Vladimir Putin pays tribute in a telegram of condolences to a “remarkable politician”, adding: “as a true friend of Russia, he made an invaluable personal contribution to the development of good neighborly relations between our countries and made great efforts to bring them to level of strategic partnership”.
Turkey
“I pray for God's mercy for my dear colleague and brother” Ebrahim Raïssi, reacts President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on 62~
Syria
President Bashar al-Assad presents his condolences to Iran, which has supported him since start of the civil war in his country thirteen years ago.
“Syria stands in solidarity with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” according to his message. “We worked with the late president to ensure that the strategic relations between Syria and Iran always remained prosperous.” Syria, like Lebanon, proclaimed an official three-day mourning.
Iraq
< p>“We extend our condolences to the Supreme Leader of the Republic of Iran Ali Khamenei and to the government and people of Iran,” Prime Minister Mohamed Chia al-Soudani said, expressing his “great sadness and sorrow.”
Hachd al-Chaabi, a coalition of pro-Iran Iraqi armed groups, sends its condolences to the Iranian leaders, stressing that President Raisi “had always declared that Iraq and Iran formed a single people that cannot be separated.”
Jordan
King Abdullah II presents on sincere greetings to the brothers, officials, government and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” adding: “we stand in solidarity with our brothers in Iran in these difficult circumstances.”
Egypt
“Egypt mourns, with great sadness and deep pain, the president and highest official of the diplomacy of Iran, who died on Sunday in a painful accident,” the presidency said in a statement.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi expresses “his sincere condolences and sympathy” to the Iranian people.
France
“France presents its condolences to the Islamic Republic of Iran after the death of President Ebrahim Raïssi,” its Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Monday.
Italy
The head of government Giorgia Meloni expressed her “solidarity and the solidarity of Italy to the government Iranian people and to the Iranian people”, hoping “that the future Iranian leadership will want to commit to the stabilization and pacification of the region”.
Poland
President Andrzej Duda said he was “deeply upset” about X, adding that “few countries have such tragic pages in their history” and recalling that the Poles experienced the crash of their government plane in 2010 in Smolensk in Russia and join “with special understanding” the relatives of the victims and the Iranian people “in prayer and grief”.
Greece
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Giorgos Gerapetridis, presents his “condolences to the Iranians and the Iranian government” and affirms, on a Greek radio, to have “the feeling that despite slight transitory fluctuations, there will be no change either in (Iran's) foreign policy or in the regional or international reaction towards Iran.”
India
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “deeply saddened and shocked”, offers his “deepest condolences to his family and the people of Iran” on X, adding that India stands “with Iran in this moment of sadness”.
Pakistan
Pakistan declares day of mourning “in solidarity with Iran,” a “brotherly” country, according to Prime Minister Shebbaz Sharif on X, adding: “the immense Iranian nation will overcome this tragedy with its usual courage.” Islamabad welcomed the Iranian leader with great fanfare at the end of April.
Malaysia
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he was “deeply saddened,” stressing that his country would respect his country’s commitment to Iran to strengthen their ties “for the good of our people and the Muslim world.”
South Africa
“This is an extraordinary, unimaginable tragedy of the loss of a remarkable leader of a country with which South Africa enjoys strong bilateral relations,” says President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Kenya
President William Ruto expresses his “deepest condolences” and “solidarity with the people of Iran », emphasizing that Ebrahim Raïssi had chosen Kenya as the first step to come to the African continent.