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President Mohammed Shahabuddin expressed deep shock and sorrow at the deaths of Iranian president Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and members of the entourage in a helicopter crash, reports BSS.

In a condolence message to Iranian first vice-president Mohammad Mokhber on Monday, the president said, ‘President Raisi’s visionary approach as well as courage and dignity in dealing with difficult issues stand as a model and inspiration for all of us. Iran has lost a wise and erudite leader whose empathy with the people made him outstanding.’

The president prayed for eternal peace of the departed souls and conveyed sympathy to the bereaved family members and the brotherly people of Iran.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday also  expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death of Iranian president Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and the entourage in an Iranian helicopter accident.

‘I am deeply shocked and saddened to hear about the sad demise of president Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, minister of foreign affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian, and members of the entourage in the tragic accident of the helicopter carrying them,’ she said.

Sheikh Hasina conveyed her condolence in a letter wrote to first vice-president of Islamic Republic of Iran Mohammad Mokhber.

She said, ‘In this hour of grief, on behalf of the government of Bangladesh and on my own behalf, I convey our deepest condolences to the Government and the brotherly people of Iran.’

The prime minister mentioned that president Seyyed Raisi was a wise and selfless leader who served his country with deep commitment and worked for the well-being of the People of Iran.

‘He was a great leader of international stature and his exemplary leadership and accomplishments will remain as a lasting legacy for us,’ she added.

The prime minister offered her prayers for seeking divine blessing for the departed souls and for bestowing courage and fortitude on the bereaved family members and brotherly people of Iran to overcome the irreparable loss.

Iran’s powerful allies on Monday mourned the death of its president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, while regional militants hailed him as a supporter of the Palestinian cause, reports AFP.

Russia and China called the ultraconservative leader a ‘friend’, while Iran’s arch-foes the United States and Israel had yet to react publicly.

China’s president Xi Jinping said ‘his tragic death is a great loss to the Iranian people, and the Chinese people have lost a good friend,’ foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference.

The European Union expressed its ‘sincere condolences’.

‘Our thoughts go to the families,’ EU Council president Charles Michel said in a statement.

France sent its condolences ‘to the Islamic Republic of Iran and to the families of the victims of this accident,’ in a statement from the foreign ministry.

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi said he was ‘deeply saddened and shocked by the tragic demise’ of Raisi, adding that ‘India stands with Iran in this time of sorrow.’

Exiled Iranian opposition group the National Council of Resistance of Iran said Raisi’s death ‘represents a monumental and irreparable strategic blow to the mullahs’ supreme leader Ali Khamenei and the entire regime, notorious for its executions and massacres’, in a statement from the group’s leader, Maryam Rajavi.

Russian president Vladimir Putin hailed Raisi as an ‘outstanding politician’ and said his death was an ‘irreplaceable loss.’

‘As a true friend of Russia, he made an invaluable personal contribution to the development of good-neighbourly relations between our countries, and made great efforts to take them to the level of a strategic partnership,’ Putin said in a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Turkey was ‘deeply saddened’ by Raisi’s death and ‘shares the pain of the friendly and brotherly Iranian people,’ foreign minister Hakan Fidan said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent his ‘sincere condolences to the friendly and fraternal people and government,’ in a message on X, formerly Twitter.

Hamas mourned Raisi as an ‘honourable supporter’ of the Gaza-based Palestinian militant group whose October 7 attack on Israel sparked the bloodiest-ever war in the coastal territory.

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.

Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah group, which has traded deadly cross-border fire with Israel during the war, praised Raisi as ‘a strong supporter, and a staunch defender of our causes... and a protector of the resistance movements’.

Lebanon announced three official days of mourning.

Yemen’s Tehran-backed Huthi rebels saying Raisi’s death ‘is a loss not only for Iran but also for the entire Islamic world and Palestine and Gaza,’ Huthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam said on X, adding that the Palestinians were ‘in dire need of the presence of such a president who continued to defend’ their right to freedom.

Iran’s Gulf neighbours the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar sent their condolences.

The oil-rich UAE ‘stands in solidarity with Iran at this difficult time’, said Emirati president Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, called the news ‘painful’.

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad 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 Syrian presidency said in a statement.

Afghanistan’s Taliban government expressed regret over the deaths of Iran’s president and other officials in a helicopter crash.

‘The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and all Afghans are deeply saddened and affected by this tragic event,’ said prime minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund in a statement.