The Diplomat
The Iranian Embassy in Spain communicated, through a circular addressed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and all the Diplomatic Missions and International Organisations accredited in Spain, “the opening of a book of condolences in memory of the victims” of the helicopter accident in which the Iranian President, Seyed Ebrahim Raisi, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, died along with other authorities.
The book of condolences will be available to the public who wish to show their condolences at the Embassy headquarters (Calle de Jerez, 5) from today, Tuesday, until Wednesday, 22 May, from 11:00 to 15:00.
The Iranian authorities confirmed early yesterday that the helicopter in which Ebrahim Raisi was travelling disappeared on Sunday while returning from the inauguration of a dam in Azerbaijan along with two other aircraft -which arrived safely at their destination-. Official Iranian media reported on Sunday that the helicopter in which he was travelling, an old Bell 212, had suffered a “crash landing”, without any further information about the cause.
The Iranian news agency Mehr reported that ‘all the passengers of the helicopter carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister were martyred’. In addition to the president and the foreign minister, East Azerbaijan’s governor, Malik Rahmati, and the leader of Friday prayers in the city of Tabriz, Mohammad-Ali Al-Hashem, were also on board.
In a statement released later, the Iranian embassy expressed “its deepest condolences on the occasion of the martyrdom of the President of the Republic, Ayatollah Raisi, Foreign Minister Dr Amir Abdollahian and their companions, for which five days of public mourning have been declared in Iran”, adding that “despite the magnitude of this tragedy, the administration of the country is proceeding in an orderly manner and in accordance with the legal provisions”.
The statement adds that presidential elections will take place in 50 days at the latest and that “with the approval of the Council of Ministers, Dr Ali Bagheri has been appointed acting Foreign Minister”.
The Spanish Government, like most Western leaders, has not yet officially commented on the death of the Iranian president. “He was a very important figure within Iran and, therefore, we are going to closely follow the steps that Iran is going to take to take over as head of that institution,” the Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, said to Cadena SER.
The High Representative for Foreign Policy of the EU, Josep Borrell, and the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, have expressed “their condolences” for the death of President Raisi and the Foreign Minister. Among the EU Member States, one of the exceptions has been the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, who has shown her “solidarity” with “the Iranian Government and people” and has expressed her wish that “future Iranian leaders “they want to commit to the stabilization and pacification of the region.”
