TEHRAN - Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian has praised former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who died in a terrorist attack on Friday, praising him as a prominent politician whose “invaluable” job in promoting ties between Iran and Japan will not be forgotten.

In two posts in Persian and Japanese on his Twitter page, Hossein Amir Abdollahian offered condolences to the Japanese people and government over the terrorist act.

"His invaluable services as a prominent politician, including [those that aimed to] develop relations between the two nations of Iran and Japan, will not be forgotten," Amir Abdollahian wrote.

Prior to Amir Abdollahian’ tweet, the Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement strongly condemning the Abe assassination.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns this terrorist act,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said.

The spokesman said since Iran itself has lost great figures in terrorist attacks it is “closely” following the assassination of Abe with “concern”.

In a separate message, Iran’s president also offered condolences over the assassination of Abe. “The deceased was a great politician for the Japanese people and an international figure who played an important role in the development of historical relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Japan,” Raisi wrote in his message of condolence. 

Abe, 67, died on Friday after being shot at a campaign event, an attack that shocked a country where gun violence is virtually nonexistent.

Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, was campaigning ahead of the House of Councilors elections scheduled for Sunday.

Addressing reporters later, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Abe had been killed in “a despicable and barbaric manner.”

Japanese police have admitted there were flaws in the security for the former prime minister.

"It is undeniable that there were problems in the security," said Nara police chief Tomoaki Onizuka.

Sunday's elections for the upper house went ahead as planned.

Voting began at 07:00 local time (22:00GMT on Saturday), just two days after Abe's assassination, and closed at 21:00.

Exit polls suggested the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), in which Abe was a leading and hugely influential figure, and its junior coalition partner Komeito were set to retain their majority.

Elections for Japan's less-powerful upper house of parliament are typically seen as a referendum on the current government. But a big victory for the LDP would strengthen the current prime minister's ability to push though his key policies, including a doubling of defense spending.

The Japanese embassy in Tehran issued a message on Saturday praising the Iranian officials for expressing sympathy over the murder of the former prime minister.

After 41 years, Abe was the first Japanese prime minister who paid a visit to Tehran in June 2019 and did “sincere” efforts to increase Tokyo-Tehran ties, the embassy said.

During the visit, he held talks with then-president Hassan Rouhani and Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to improve peace and security in the West Asia region, the embassy added.