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•Death met by muted grief, furtive celebration
Iran proclaimed five days of mourning for President Ebrahim Raisi yesterday, though the muted atmosphere revealed little of the spectacular public grief that has accompanied the deaths of other senior figures in the Islamic Republic’s 45-year history.
While government loyalists packed into mosques and squares to pray for Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, both killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday, most shops remained open and the authorities made little effort to interrupt ordinary life.
A year after Raisi’s hardline government cracked down violently to end the biggest anti-establishment demonstrations since the 1979 revolution, opponents even posted furtive video online of people passing out sweets to celebrate his death.
Laila, a 21-year-old student in Tehran, told Reuters by phone that she was not saddened by Raisi’s death, “because he ordered the crackdown on women for hijab.”
“But I am sad because even with Raisi’s death this regime will not change,” she said.
Rights groups say hundreds of Iranians died in 2022-2023 demonstrations triggered by the death in custody of a young Iranian Kurdish woman arrested by morality police for violating the country’s strict dress codes.
The authorities’ handling of an array of political, social and economic crises have deepened the gap between the clerical rulers and society. Supporters of the clerical establishment spoke admiringly of Raisi, a 63-year-old former hardline jurist elected in a tightly controlled vote in 2021.
“He was a hard working president. His legacy will endure as long as we are alive,” said Mohammad Hossein Zarrabi, 28, a member of the volunteer Basij militia in the holy Shi’ite city of Qom.
But there was little of the emotional rhetoric that accompanied the deaths of publicly revered figures, like Qasem Soleimani, a senior commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards killed by a U.S. missile in 2020 in Iraq, whose funeral drew huge crowds of mourners, weeping with sorrow and rage.
For opponents of Iran’s clerical rulers at home and in exile, Raisi has been a hate figure since the 1980s when he was blamed for playing a leading role as a jurist in the execution of dissidents. Iran has never acknowledged that mass executions took place; amnesty International says 5,000 Iranians, possibly more, were executed in the first decade after the revolution.
. . . World reacts
World leaders have expressed their condolences on the death of Raisi. Here are some reactions from across the world:
China: President Xi Jinping called the “tragic death” of Raisi “a great loss to the Iranian people and the Chinese people have lost a good friend”, according to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
European Union: President of the European Council, Charles Michel, expressed the bloc’s “sincere condolences” for the death of Raisi, Amirabollahian and the other Iranian officials who died in the crash. Josep Borrell, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, also offered his condolences. “The EU expresses its sympathies to the families of all the victims and to the Iranian citizens affected,” he said in a statement.
India: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “deeply saddened and shocked” by Raisi’s death. “His contribution to strengthening the India-Iran bilateral relationship will always be remembered. My heartfelt condolences to his family and the people of Iran. India stands with Iran in this time of sorrow,” Modi wrote on X.
Iraq: “We express our solidarity with the brotherly Iranian people and the officials of the Islamic Republic during this painful tragedy,” Prime Minister Shia al-Sudani said in a statement.
Hamas: The Palestinian group conveyed its “deepest condolences and solidarity to Khamenei, the government and the Iranian people for “this immense loss”. It praised Raisi and Amirabollahian for supporting Palestine against Israel and expressed confidence that Iran’s “deep-rooted institutions” will overcome “the repercussions of this great loss”.
Malaysia: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he was “deeply saddened” by the news, noting that he had the “honour” of meeting Raisi last November. “His dedication to justice, peace, and the upliftment of the ummah [the Islamic community] was truly inspiring. We committed ourselves to bolstering Malaysia-Iran relations, working together for the betterment of our peoples and the Muslim world. Our pledge will be fulfilled,” Ibrahim said.
Pakistan: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared a day of mourning in Pakistan. “May the martyred souls rest in heavenly peace. The great Iranian nation will overcome this tragedy with customary courage,” Sharif wrote on X.
Qatar: Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani expressed his condolences to the people of Iran. “Asking God Almighty for mercy and forgiveness for [those killed] and for their families with patience and solace. We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return,” he wrote on X.
Russia: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed condolences over the death of two top officials he called “reliable friends” of Russia. “Their role in strengthening mutually beneficial Russian-Iranian cooperation and trusting partnership is invaluable,” Lavrov said. “We sincerely extend our condolences to the families and friends of the victims, as well as to the entire friendly people of Iran. Our thoughts and hearts are with you in this sad hour.”
President Vladimir Putin joined Lavrov in offering Tehran condolences. “Raisi was an outstanding politician whose entire life was dedicated to serving his homeland,” Putin said in a letter to Khamenei, published on the Kremlin’s website.
“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,” he added.
Turkey: Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan expressed condolences and said Ankara had been in contact with Iran since hearing about the crash on Sunday. He said Turkey’s relevant institutions, including the defence ministry and the disaster management authority, tried “their best but unfortunately, we weren’t able to hear good news,” he told a joint news conference with his Pakistani counterpart, Ishaq Dar, in Islamabad.
Yemen’s Houthis: Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthi’s Supreme Revolutionary Committee, expressed his “deepest condolences” to the Iranian people and the families of the officials who died in the crash. Al-Houthi added his certainty that Iran would continue “adhering to the loyal leaders of their people, by God’s will”.
