Condolences were offered by former Turkish President Abdullah Gül, Afghanistan's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, Iraq’s former Prime Minister and current Vice President Nouri al-Maliki, Turkish Minister of European Union Affairs Omer Celik, the UN resident coordinator in Iran, Gary Lewis, Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifah, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Among other foreign officials and dignitaries who also send messages of condolences to Iran were Tajikistan’s President Imomali Rakhmon, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Meanwhile, the Emir of Kuwait Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and Palestine’s Islamic Jihad Organization expressed their sorrow over the passing away of Iran’s former president.
In a statement, a US State Department official referred to Ayatollah Rafsanjani as a “prominent figure” throughout the history of Iran. “We send our condolences to his family and loved ones,” it said.
In a statement on Monday, Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah offered condolences to the Iranian nation over the demise, praising Ayatollah Rafsanjani as a firm supporter of the anti-Israeli resistance front and the Palestinian cause.
Nasrallah said Ayatollah Rafsanjani was a flag-bearer of the Palestinian cause, as the main issue of the Muslim world, and stood by the resistance movement facing Israeli plots against Palestine and the entire region.
Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the leader of Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement, also sent a message of condolences to Ayatollah Khamenei, in which he hailed the late cleric as a well-known supporter of the Lebanese and Palestinian resistance.
Al-Houthi noted that the Iranian cleric made great efforts to reinforce unity among Muslim nations in the face of plots by the US, the Israeli regime and the mercenaries supporting Takfiri terrorists in the Middle East.
It is worthy to mention that Ayatollah Rafsanjani has also left several theological works in various fields including a Quranic commentary.
Rafsanjani was considered as right- hand man and confident of Imam Khomeini, the late founder of the Islamic Republic. He stood by Imam throughout all thick and thin times of struggle against former dictatorial Pahlavi regime.