Suren Papikyan expresses condolences to his Iranian counterpart over  tragic death of Iranian president and his accompanying staff in  helicopter crash

ArmInfo.Minister of Defence of the Republic of Armenia, Suren Papikyan, sent a message of condolence 

to the Minister of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics of Iran, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, in connection with the death of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, and his accompanying staff as a result of the helicopter crash.

As the press service of the RA MoD reports, the message reads as 

 follows:  "I was deeply saddened to learn about the death of the 

President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Minister of Foreign 

Affairs, and their accompanying officials. 

As a close and friendly country to the Islamic Republic of Iran, the 

Republic of Armenia received the untimely tragic news of the deaths 

of President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, Minister of Foreign Affairs 

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and their accompanying officials with 

profound sadness. 

We express our deepest condolences to the relatives and friends of 

the victims and wish strength and steadfastness to the pious Iranian 

people. 

On behalf of the Ministry of Defence of Armenia and personally from 

me, please accept our words of consolation and unwavering support."

On the afternoon of May 19, information spread that the Iranian 

President's helicopter had crashed. The Iranian president was 

returning from the northwestern Iranian province of East Azerbaijan 

after the opening of a dam on the common border with Azerbaijan, in 

the occupied territories of Artsakh.

The plane was found 30 kilometers from the village of Taval. 

According to preliminary data, the helicopter lost control due to an 

electronic failure and thick fog, fell onto a mountain and caught 

fire. All the passengers of the Iranian presidential helicopter were 

killed. President of Iran  Ebrahim Raisi, Minister of Foreign Affairs  

Hossein Amirabdollahian, Governor of East Azerbaijan Malek Rahmati , 

Imam of Tabriz Ayatollah Ale-Hashem (Seyyed Mohammad Ali Ale- Hashem 

)were in the crashed helicopter.