"[We] are overwhelmed with great pain for having to say goodbye to an exemplary person, an extraordinary leader of the world as is and will forever be our brother Ebrahim, an excellent human being, defender of the sovereignty of his people and unconditional friend of our country," he wrote on X.

"We will always remember these outstanding political figures as true patriots of the Islamic Republic who firmly defended the interests of their state and gave their lives in selfless service to their motherland," Lavrov said.

"Seyed Ebrahim Raisi was an outstanding politician whose whole life was devoted to serving the Motherland. He rightfully enjoyed the high respect of his compatriots and considerable prestige abroad. As a true friend of Russia, he made an invaluable personal contribution to the development of good-neighborly relations between our countries, and made great efforts to bring them to the level of strategic partnership," Putin said.