TEHRAN, May 22 (MNA) – 15 heads and senior officials of 13 countries have arrived in Tehran to pay respects to the martyred president and foreign minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Emir of Qatar, the national leader of Turkmenistan, the presidents of Tunisia and Tajikistan, the prime ministers of Iraq, Pakistan, Armenia, Qatar, Azerbaijan and the heads of parliaments of Iraq, Russia, Algeria, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Lebanon are among the leaders and senior officials who have entered the country so far to attend the ceremony of honoring president Raeisi and foreign minister Amir-Abdollahian who lost their lives in a helicopter crash on Sunday.

More than 40 high-ranking foreign delegations will participate in the funeral ceremony on Wednesday to commemorate the martyrdom of the Iranian President and Foreign Minister in Tehran.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian have martyred in a helicopter crash in the northwestern province of East Azarbaijan.

The helicopter carrying President Raeisi and his accompanying delegation crashed on Sunday in the Dizmar forest, nestled between the cities of Varzaqan and Jolfa in East Azarbaijan Province.

It was transporting Raeisi, Amir-Abdollahian, East Azarbaijan Governor Malek Rahmati, Friday Prayers leader of the city of Tabriz Seyyed Mohammad Ali Al-e Hashem, and a member of the president’s bodyguard team Mahdi Mousavi. The helicopter’s pilot, co-pilot, and crew were also among others on board the chopper.

President Raeisi and his accompanying delegation were returning from a ceremony to inaugurate a dam on the Aras River with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.

Following the tragic martyrdom of Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei declared a 5-day mourning in Iran.

MNA/