In a statement released on Monday, after the wreckage of the helicopter carrying the president and his accompanying delegation in northwestern Iran was found, the cabinet members extended their condolences to the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and the nation.

They praised President Raisi for his hard work since he assumed office in August 2021, and asserted that they will follow in the footsteps of the president in fulfilling the duties.

The statement reads, “The hard-working and tireless president of the Iranian nation, who only served the great people of Iran in the path of the country’s advancement and progress, stood by his promise and sacrificed his life for the nation.”

The demised Iranian president and his delegation, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, Tabriz Friday prayers leader Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, Governor of East Azarbaijan Province Malek Rahmati, and top IRGC commander General Seyyed Mehdi Mousavi were all designated as “martyrs in the line of duty”.

The helicopter crashed in the forests after returning from an inauguration ceremony of a dam project on the Aras River on the Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan border.