The martyrdom of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi in a helicopter accident has saddened the Iranian nation as well as Pakistanis.

President Raisi visited Pakistan last month. In this tour, he met different people, addressed and discussed at different forums and left happy memories wherever he went. He spoke as the best friend of Pakistan, while many developments came out from his side to increase Pakistan-Iran brotherhood and increase mutual cooperation, and the possibilities were highlighted that Islamabad and Tehran together could do many things.  Both countries will find ways to solve problems. President Asif Ali Zardari has mouned his death and termed it a great loss. 

Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mian Shahbaz Sharif, while expressing his sorrow on the confirmation of the news of the martyrdom of the Iranian President, has announced to observe the day of mourning throughout the country and to keep the national flag in tunnels. After the helicopter accident of President Raisi, we were hopeful that there would be some good news as a result of the rescue operation, but unfortunately it did not happen, which we are deeply saddened by.

 Pakistani leaders have expressed shock over the martyrdom of the president in the accident.  Condolence statements have also come out from various ministers and political leaders.  Iranian President Raisi was returning after inaugurating a dam project along the Iran-Azerbaijan border with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev when his helicopter crashed in a forested mountainous area.  Foreign Minister Hossein, governor of Azarbaijani province, and other high-ranking officials were also on board the helicopter with the Iranian president.  After the crash landing of the helicopter, 40 rescue teams were sent, but after search and investigation, the martyrdoms were confirmed. 69-year-old Ibrahim Raisi was elected as the President of Iran in 2021. 

He was considered the successor of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. In 2019, the Supreme Leader of Iran appointed Ibrahim Raisi as the head of the judiciary.  In the past, Ibrahim Raisi was also elected as the vice-chairman of Iran's 88-member Majlis Khabargan Rahbari. It is also responsible for electing the Supreme Leader in the Majlis of Iran.  He was a fiend of Pakistan and used to emphasis Pak-Iran ties. Apart from being neighboring countries, Iran and Pakistan are linked by centuries of historical, traditional and religious ties, while after the establishment of Pakistan, Iran was the first country to recognize Pakistan.  Not only Pakistan is affected by the events of Iran, but the crises and changes occurring there also affect the region.  The Iranian leadership has faced many crises due to its prudence and it should be expected that despite the vacuum created by the martyrdom of Ibrahim Raisi, Tehran will play a positive role in removing some of the obstacles in the region. 

After the helicopter accident of Ibrahim Raisi, the Saudi government made it clear in a statement that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stands with the brotherly country of Iran in difficult situations and is ready to provide all kinds of assistance required by Iranian agencies.  Similar sentiments were echoed by the UAE for Iran.  The last month  visit of Ibrahim Raisi was greatly successful as it increased the possibilities of increasing mutual cooperation in many fields, including trade, they should be taken advantage of. Iran is our neighboring country and there is a 900 km long border between Iran and Pakistan on both sides of which Baloch tribes are living.  Panjgur district of Balochistan, bordering Iran, is located only 520 km away from the provincial capital Quetta, with a total population of 500,000 people.  The main livelihood of 90 percent of the people of Panjgur is informal trade between Pakistan and Iran . Ebrahim Raisi during his visit of Pakistan had also emphasized on the completion of Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project as this project is in the interest of both countries.  Iran is our neighboring Islamic country with immense opportunities to increase trade.  Last year, the then Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's  visited Iran.  The visit focused on the vast spectrum of bilateral ties ranging from cultural affinity to shared religious background, people-to-people contract, Iran's support to Pakistan on Kashmir dispute and also mainly focused on facilitating trade endeavors and exploiting the existing potentials of trade between the two sides and taking them to new heights.

There is no denying that Iran is not only our most trusted next door neighbor with whom Pakistan has no dispute, but there exists a vast scope for all sorts of bilateral ties as there is no trust deficit between the two.  Their ties date back to the days when Pakistan emerged on the map of world because Iran was the first country to recognize Pakistan after it came into being in August 1947. And the first head of any state to visit Pakistan after its independence was also Shah of Iran who paid an official visit to Pakistan in 1950.  Iran's unwavering support to Pakistan on the Kashmir dispute is also a known fact.   Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi was a great man. Before becoming the president of Iran, Ibrahim Raisi held various important positions. He was born in 1960 in the northeastern city of Mashhad, Iran. He acquired knowledge of theology and Islamic jurisprudence under Khamenei while his father Syed Haji has also been a well-known religious leader. He was married to Jamila Alam Al Huda and is survived by 2 daughters. Ibrahim Raisi received his PhD in Law from Shahid Motahari University, Ibrahim Raisi was 5 years old when his father passed away. Interestingly, Ibrahim Raisi was considered very close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei and was the first president of Iran to become president during the US sanctions.

During the  overthrow of the monarchy and the Islamic revolution, the 20-year-old Raisi was named the prosecutor of Hamdan city and Karaj city in 1980, and was also the deputy prosecutor of Tehran from 1985 to 1988. Later, he served as Prosecutor General of Tehran from 1989 to 1994 and Deputy Chief of Judicial Authority from 2004 to 2014 and then National Prosecutor General. The Iranian president did not stop here, but emerged as the Prosecutor General of Tehran from 1989 to 1994, while from 1994 to 2004 he served as the head of the Anti-Corruption and Misconduct Agency. While in 2006, Ibrahim Raisi has been a part of the committee that selects the Supreme Leader. Ebrahim Raisi was elected the Prosecutor General of Iran after the Prosecutor General of Tehran, while standing against Hassan Rouhani in the Iranian elections in 2017, but received only 38% of the votes while Hassan Rouhani took 57% of the votes. In 2019, the Supreme Leader appointed Ebrahim Raisi as Chief Justice, while in 2021, Ebrahim Raisi was elected President of Iran with an overwhelming majority. His visit to Pakistan last month was viewed with great interest and the people of Pakistan loved him the most.

The way he spoke at various meetings in Pakistan and called for enhancing Pak-Iran cooperation in science, trade, social and eduational fields was loved by Pakistani people.