Vice Prez Dhankhar arrives in Tehran to pay condolence on death of Iranian president Raisi in chopper crash

Tehran: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar arrived here on Wednesday to attend an official ceremony to pay condolences on the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash.

Dhankhar, who is leading the Indian delegation, was received by the Iranian authorities on his arrival in Tehran.

“VP Dhankhar will attend the official ceremony to pay condolences on the demise of President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister H. Amir-Abdollahian, of Iran,” the vice president’s office said in a post on X along with pictures of his arrival at the Tehran airport.

A one-day state mourning was observed across India on Tuesday as a mark of respect for Raisi.

President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have conveyed their condolences on the demise of Raisi. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited the embassy of Iran in New Delhi on Tuesday to convey India’s condolences on the loss.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei presided over a funeral on Wednesday for the country’s late president, foreign minister, and others killed in the crash. Thousands of people attended the funeral procession of the late president and his companions.

Several world leaders are in Tehran to attend the official funeral ceremony.

The Iranian president, the country’s foreign minister, and several other officials were found dead on Monday, hours after their helicopter crashed in a foggy, mountainous region in the northwestern part of the country, Iran state media reported.

Raisi, 63, and his entourage were heading to Tabriz city after returning from a visit to a locality on the Azerbaijan-Iran border on Sunday.