Putin condoles Iran gov't, people on demise of Ayatollah Rafsanjani

Moscow, Jan 10, IRNA – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday condoled the Iranian government and people on the death of the late Chairman of Iran's Expediency Council Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Writing on his personal Telegram channel, Iran's ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanaei said that President Putin has condoled the demise of Iran's former president.
Earlier in the day, a Russian Foreign Ministry's special envoy came to the Iranian embassy in Moscow to extend condolences over the death of Ayatollah Rafsanjani, a senior cleric and a veteran Iranian politician.
Rafsanjani, who served as Iran's president between 1989 and 1997, is regarded to have laid the foundations of Tehran-Moscow ties, as in a visit to Moscow in 1989 and after negotiations with the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, he signed important documents that provided a base for Iran-Russia relations after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Ayatollah Rafsanjani, 82, died of a heart attack Sunday evening.

Source: http://www.irna.ir/en/News/82381913/