Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a telephone conversation with the interim Iranian president, Mohammad Mokhber, who was appointed to the post following the martyrdom of President Ebrahim Raeisi in a helicopter crash in northwestern Iran.
During the telephone conversation on Monday, Putin offered his "deepest condolences" to the Iranian government and nation over the tragic loss.
He also reiterated the need to follow the late Iranian president's policy to further strengthen ties between Tehran and Moscow.
Mokhber, for his part, thanked Putin for expressing sympathy with the people of his country and called for more cooperation between Iran and Russia to serve the interests of the two countries.
The helicopter carrying President Raeisi, Foreign Minsiter Amir-Abdollahian, and several others, including East Azarbaijan Governor Malek Rahmati, Friday Prayers leader of Tabriz city Mohammad Ali Al-e Hashem, bodyguards and crew members crashed in East Azarbaijan in northwestern Iran on Sunday.
Earlier, Putin had met with Iran's Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali and expressed sadness over the incident. Putin on Sunday evening invited Jalali to his office in the Kremlin and studied the dimensions of the incident, giving the ambassador his assurance that Russia would do whatever necessary to help Iran.
Separately in a letter to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei, Putin hailed Raeisi as an "outstanding politician" and said his death was an "irreplaceable loss."
"Raeisi was an outstanding politician whose entire life was dedicated to serving his homeland," Putin said in the letter.
"As a true friend of Russia, he made an invaluable personal contribution to the development of good-neighborly relations between our countries, and made great efforts to take them to the level of a strategic partnership.”
In related news, people paid tribute to the late Iranian president and foreign minister by placing flowers outside the Iranian embassy in Moscow.
According to Article 131 of the Constitution, Mokhber, as first vice president, assumed interim duties in managing the executive branch upon the Leader’s approval.
Ayatollah Khamenei urged Mokhber to arrange to elect a new president within a maximum of 50 days in cooperation with the other two heads of the three branches of the government.