AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has expressed his "deep" condolences over the martyrdom of Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi in a recent helicopter crash incident, describing him as an outstanding statesman.
Kim Jong-un in the message expressed deep condolences, on behalf of the DPRK government and people and on his own, to the first vice-president of Iran and, through him, to the Iranian government and people and the bereaved families, upon receiving the shocking news of President Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi's sudden demise by an accident, the KCNA reported.
The message said that the demise of the president is a great loss to the fraternal Iranian people and the world people aspiring after independence and justice.
The Iranian president was an outstanding statesman and a close friend of the DPRK people, who made a great contribution to the cause of the Iranian people for safeguarding the sovereignty, development, and interests of their country and the gains of the Islamic Revolution, the message added.
Convinced that the Iranian government and people would overcome the pain of the great loss and advance undauntedly and vigorously to build a strong and prosperous country, the message prayed that the bereaved families would recover stability as soon as possible.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian have martyred in a helicopter crash in the northwestern province of East Azarbaijan.
The helicopter carrying President Raeisi and his accompanying delegation crashed on Sunday in the Dizmar forest, nestled between the cities of Varzaqan and Jolfa in East Azarbaijan Province.
It was transporting Raeisi, Amir-Abdollahian, East Azarbaijan Governor Malek Rahmati, Friday Prayers leader of the city of Tabriz Seyyed Mohammad Ali Al-e Hashem, and a member of the president’s bodyguard team Mahdi Mousavi. The helicopter’s pilot, co-pilot, and crew were also among others on board the chopper.
President Raeisi and his accompanying delegation were returning from a ceremony to inaugurate a dam on the Aras River with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.
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