Iran’s Interim President Mohammad Mokhber says the Islamic Republic will resolutely continue the policy of late president Ebrahim Raeisi to promote ties with Iraq.

Mokhber made the remarks in a Saturday meeting with Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid and his accompanying delegation, who are in Tehran to pay homage to Raeisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his companions, who lost their lives in a helicopter crash last week.

Mokhber said the late president’s huge and bitter loss reinforced national unity inside the country and convergence and synergy between the resistance front and Muslim countries.

He added that one of the late president’s most prominent successes was to improve Iran’s relations with Muslim and neighboring countries.

The interim president emphasized that the Iraqi government and nation have a leading position in Iran’s foreign policy.

He noted that the late president played a leading and influential role in strengthening the resistance front, changing power equations in the world by promoting synergy with independent countries and defeating the US and Israeli regime’s hegemony.

He said Iran will firmly continue its principled stance in support of the resistance front based on the prudent guidelines of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

The Iraqi president, for his part, praised Iran’s support for his country and said President Raeisi’s martyrdom is not only a great and irreparable tragedy for the Iranian nation but also the people of Iraq and the entire region.

Rashid added that the Iraqi government and nation will stand by the government and nation of Iran in this painful incident.

He expressed Baghdad’s determination to further improve relations with Tehran, saying his country will take all the necessary measure in this regard.

Rashid’s visit to Tehran came a few days after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani visited Tehran to meet with Ayatollah Khamenei and attend the funeral procession of Raeisi and his companions.

On May 19, the helicopter carrying Raeisi and his entourage crashed as it was on its way to Tabriz, the capital of Iran’s East Azarbaijan Province, from a location on the border with the Republic of Azerbaijan where the Iranian president had opened a major dam project. Their bodies were found on Monday after a massive night-long search operation.