“I had the honour of meeting president Raisi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last November.

“He exemplified a deep commitment to the welfare of his people and the dignity of his nation, which represents a proud and rich civilisation rooted in the principles of Islam. His dedication to justice, peace and the upliftment of the ummah was truly inspiring,” Anwar said in a Facebook post.

Raisi and Amir-Abdollahian were killed in a helicopter crash in mountainous terrain and icy weather, an Iranian official said today, after search teams located the wreckage in East Azerbaijan province.

“President Raisi, the foreign minister and all the passengers in the helicopter were killed in the crash,” the senior Iranian official told Reuters, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Iran’s Mehr news agency confirmed the deaths, reporting that “all passengers of the helicopter carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister were martyred”.

An Iranian official earlier told Reuters the helicopter carrying Raisi and the foreign minister was completely burned in the crash yesterday.

State TV reported that images from the site showed the aircraft slammed into a mountain peak, although there was no official word on the cause of the crash.