Tyrants and terrorists have been mourning the death of Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi after his surprise death in a helicopter crash on Sunday.
The Hamas terror group, Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia, Iraq-based armed groups and the Syrian government – all members of the so-called ‘Axis of Resistance’ against Israel and its Western allies – expressed their condolences on Monday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a statement released by the Kremlin, meanwhile described Raisi ‘as a true friend of Russia’.
Iran has been supplying Russia with munitions and drones to support its continued invasion of Ukraine that have wreaked havoc across the country.
Hamas mourned Raisi as an ‘honourable supporter’ of the Gaza-based group whose October 7 attack on Israel killed around 1,200 people in Israel and sparked the Jewish state’s retaliation in the bloodiest ever war in the coastal territory.
Tyrants and terrorists have been mourning the death of Iran ‘s President Ebrahim Raisi (pictured) after his surprise death in a helicopter crash on Sunday
Raisi was confirmed dead after rescuers found a helicopter carrying him and other officials that had crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran the day before. Drone footage was seen from the site of the crash early Monday morning.
Hamas mourned Raisi as an ‘honourable supporter’ of the Gaza-based group whose October 7 attack on Israel killed around 1,200 people in Israel and sparked the Jewish state’s retaliation in the bloodiest ever war in the coastal territory
Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah group, which has traded deadly cross-border fire with Israel amid the war, praised Raisi as ‘a strong supporter, and a staunch defender of our causes… and a protector of the resistance movements’.
Hamas said it appreciated Raisi’s ‘support for the Palestinian resistance and tireless efforts in solidarity’ with Palestinians since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Iran has hailed the October 7 attack that triggered the war as a ‘success’ but denied any involvement. In a series of tit-for-tat attacks, Tehran also launched drone strikes against Israel which had earlier attacked sites in the Islamic Republic.
Also among the eight people killed when the helicopter crashed into a remote mountainside in heavy fog was Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, known for his fierce anti-Israel sentiment and scepticism of the West.
Hamas also praised Raisi and Amir-Abdollahian’s ‘intense political and diplomatic efforts to stop the Zionist (Israeli) aggression against our Palestinian people’.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah group, which has traded deadly cross-border fire with Israel amid the war, praised Raisi as ‘a strong supporter, and a staunch defender of our causes… and a protector of the resistance movements’.
‘Hezbollah in Lebanon extends its deepest condolences,’ the group said in a statement, adding that it had known Raisi ‘closely for a long time’.
Lebanon announced three official days of mourning.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad expressed solidarity with close ally Tehran, which has backed him during more than a decade of civil war.
Assad ‘affirmed Syria’s solidarity with the Islamic Republic of Iran and with the families of the late deceased and his comrades,’ the Syrian presidency said in a statement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (pictured shaking hands with Raisi in 2022), in a statement released by the Kremlin, described the late president ‘as a true friend of Russia’
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (pictured with Raisi in 2023) expressed solidarity with close ally Tehran, which has backed him during more than a decade of civil war
‘We worked with the late President to ensure that strategic relations between Syria and Iran flourish always,’ the statement added.
Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces, or Hashed al-Shaabi, also expressed their sympathies, adding that Raisi had ‘always declared that Iraq and Iran are one people that cannot be separated’.
The Hashed are an integral part of the official Iraqi security apparatus under the authority of the prime minister that also includes several pro-Iran armed factions.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani said that ‘we stand in solidarity with the Iranian people’.
The crash comes as the Middle East remains unsettled by the Israel-Hamas war, with tensions with the West at dangerous levels.
During Raisi’s term in office, Iran enriched uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels, as Tehran also supplied bomb-carrying drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine and armed militia groups across the region.
Iran has also faced years of mass protests against its Shia theocracy over its ailing economy and women’s rights – making the moment that much more sensitive for Tehran and the future of the country.
IRNA said the crash killed eight people in all, including three crew members on the Bell helicopter, which Iran purchased in the early 2000s.
Aircraft in Iran face a shortage of parts, often flying without safety checks over Western sanctions.
Because of that, former Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sought to blame the United States for the crash in an interview on Monday.
Mr Zarif said: ‘One of the main culprits of yesterday’s tragedy is the United States, which …Embargoed the sale of aircraft and aviation parts to Iran and does not allow the people of Iran to enjoy good aviation facilities.
‘These will be recorded in the list of US crimes against the Iranian people,’ he said.
The US has yet to comment publicly on Raisi’s death.
The Hamas terror group, Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia, Iraq-based armed groups and the Syrian government – all members of the so-called ‘Axis of Resistance’ against Israel and its Western allies – expressed their condolences on Monday. Pictured: Supporters of Hezbollah burn an Israeli flag during a celebration of the October 7 attacks
Condolences also came from both neighbours and allies, after Iran confirmed there were no survivors from the crash.
Pakistan announced a day of mourning and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X that his country ‘stands with Iran in this time of sorrow’.
Leaders of Egypt and Jordan also offered condolences.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said he and his government were ‘deeply shocked’. Raisi had been returning on Sunday after travelling to Iran’s border with Azerbaijan to inaugurate a dam with Aliyev when the crash happened.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan conveyed his condolences.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who had himself urged the public to pray Sunday night, stressed the business of Iran’s government would continue no matter what.
Under the constitution, Iran’s vice first president takes over if the president dies, with Khamenei’s assent, and a new presidential election would be called within 50 days.
Khamenei’s condolence message on Monday declared five days of public mourning and acknowledged Mokhber had taken the role of acting president.
Mr Mokhber had already begun receiving calls from officials and foreign governments in Raisi’s absence, state media reported.
An emergency meeting of Iran’s cabinet was held as state media made the announcement on Monday morning.
The cabinet issued a statement afterward pledging it would follow Raisi’s path and that “with the help of God and the people, there will be no problem with management of the country”.
A hard-liner who formerly led the country’s judiciary, Raisi was viewed as a protege of Khamenei, and some analysts had suggested he could replace the 85-year-old leader after Khamenei’s death or resignation.
An Israeli flag is seen being burned by a man wearing a keffiyeh
Following Raisi’s death, the only other person so far suggested has been Mojtaba Khameini, the 55-year-old son of the Supreme Leader.
However, some have raised concerns over the position being taken only for the third time since 1979 by a family member, particularly after the Islamic Revolution overthrew the hereditary Pahlavi monarchy of the shah.
Mr Raisi won Iran’s 2021 presidential election, a vote that saw the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic’s history.
He was sanctioned by the US in part over his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war.
