Iran FM Condoles Demise of Former Iraqi President

In a message on Wednesday, Mohammad Javad Zarif voiced condolences to all Iraqi people and government.

Zarif described Talabani as one of "the most influential, prominent and benevolent figures" in Iraq who devoted his life for freedom and independence of its country.

The Iranian foreign minister also lauded the late Iraqi president efforts for preserving Iraq’s national unity and territorial integrity.

Zarif also wished patience for the bereaved family of the Kurdish leader.

The first Kurdish president of Iraq and the leader of Iraq’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) died on Tuesday in a hospital in Berlin at the age of 84. Talabani stepped down as president in 2014, after a long period of treatment following a stroke in 2012. Talabani was born near Erbil in 1933. He was the first non-Arab president of Iraq, elected in 2005, two years after the US-led invasion against the Arab country in 2003.