MNA � Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghasemi extended condolences over the demise of Russia's combative Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin.

Ghasemi expressed his sympathies over Churkin's sudden death, with the Russian government, particularly his colleagues in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation as well as his family.

Churkin, who served as Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2006, died suddenly in New York on Monday after being taken ill at work.