The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, expressed their condolences on behalf of the European body on social media today.

These messages have sparked outraged reactions on social media, both from government officials or political leaders and from anonymous individuals.

"Can you look in the eyes of the brave women and freedom fighters of Iran (...) What a shame," stressed the Swedish MEP David Lega (PPE, right-wing) on the social network X.

"Not in my name," also indicated the Dutch far-right leader, Geert Wilders.

Former Belgian Secretary of State Theo Francken (N-VA, Flemish nationalists) denounced the "European condolences for the death of a butcher and a cruel mass murderer".

"Diplomacy means dialogue, including with regimes with which we have profound differences," explained Charles Michel's spokesperson, Ecaterina Casinge, stressing that "maintaining dialogue with Iran is essential to avoid a regional escalation".

Casinge added that a message of condolences in these circumstances is a "common practice" and that "many states, in particular the EU, as well as the Secretary-General of the United Nations and NATO" did the same.

On Sunday, the EU activated its mapping system to help Iran locate the helicopter, in response to a request from that country.

This announcement by the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, Janez Lenarcic, who used the 'hashtag' "EU solidarity", had already provoked strong criticism.

"What a miserable 'hashtag', what a mockery of the brave human rights defenders in Iran," reacted Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, a German deputy for the liberal FDP party and a candidate in the European elections.

Janez Lenarcic defended the activation of the Copernicus satellite system "to facilitate a search and rescue operation is not an act of political support for a regime".

"It is simply an expression of the most basic humanity," he defended.

Iran is the target of EU sanctions due to its nuclear activities, its military support for Russia's war against Ukraine and human rights violations in the country.

The sanctions were reinforced after the repression of the protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman detained for not complying with the Islamic Republic's strict dress code.

A Swedish diplomat who works for the EU, Johan Floderus, is currently detained in Iran, where he faces the death penalty on charges of espionage.

Iranian rescue teams today recovered the remains of Ebrahim Raisi and the other eight passengers who were on the helicopter that crashed on Sunday in north-western Iran, announced the humanitarian organisation Red Crescent.

The helicopter that was also transporting the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, crashed in the Kalibar and Warzghan area, in the north-eastern province of Azerbaijan.

A few hours earlier, the Iranian government confirmed the death of Raisi, adding that the disaster will not cause "any disruption to the administration" of the country.

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