Putin holds telephone conversation with Iran’s First Vice President after Raisi’s death. The Russain leader “stressed that he knew Ebrahim Raisi well and thought highly of him as a reliable partner who made an invaluable personal contribution to expansion of friendly relations between Russia and Iran”-
MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a telephone conversation with Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber (acting head of the republic’s executive branch), the press service of the Kremlin said in a statement. The conversation took place in the context of the death of the Iranian leader Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on the previous day.
“Russian President offered Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mohammad Mokhber and all the Iranian people his deepest condolences over the tragic death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and a number of other public officials of the country in a crash. Vladimir Putin stressed that he knew Ebrahim Raisi well and thought highly of him as a reliable partner who made an invaluable personal contribution to expansion of friendly relations between Russia and Iran,” the statement reads.
Mohammad Mokhber expressed sincere gratitude for words of compassion and support at this difficult time for the country.
A helicopter carrying Raisi crashed in Iran’s province of East Azerbaijan on May 19. Iran’s top diplomat, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and a number of other Iranian officials were also on board and died.
Putin and Raisi last met in Moscow on December 7, 2023, and the two leaders took part in an online BRICS summit last November. The presidents of Russia and Iran held two phone conversations this year, with the last taking place on April 16.
In all, since Raisi assumed the presidency in the summer of 2021, he and Putin had met five times, including on the sidelines of international events, and held 15 phone conversations.
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