‘A Disgrace’: UN Bodies Honor Iran’s Late President Raisi, Responsible for Thousands of Deaths

Multiple United Nations bodies honored dead Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi – whose storied career in politics was defined by the execution of thousands of political prisoners – on Monday, prompting outrage from the Israeli delegation at the U.N.

The Security Council, the most powerful body at the United Nations, held a moment of silence in Raisi’s honor, as well as for late Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. The two died alongside six others in a helicopter that crashed while traveling back from Azerbaijan on Sunday, where they had attended an event to inaugurate a dam jointly built with Baku. Iran confirmed their deaths in the early morning hours of Monday.

Mozambique Ambassador Pedro Comissario Afonso led a moment of silence in the Security Council “in remembrance of the loss of life in a crash of the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ebrahim Raisi.” Deputy United States Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood stood for the occasion, honoring the Iranian officials.

The head of another United Nations agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), also honored Raisi and Amir-Abdollahian. Rafael Grossi had traveled to Iran, a nation that routinely violates its nuclear energy agreements, in early May, declaring Iran’s blocking of legitimate inspections of its nuclear sites and its otherwise fraught relationship with the IAEA “completely unsatisfactory.”

Grossi issued a statement of condolence on Monday on social media, writing, “our thoughts are with their families and the people of Iran during this difficult time.”

The displays at the United Nations, and especially the Security Council, triggered outraged in Israel, a nation that Raisi regularly threatened to destroy.

“What a disgrace!!” wrote Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan on Monday, publishing a video in which he compared the homage to a “moment of silence” for Adolf Hitler.

“You read correctly, the UN Security Council today held a moment’s silence in memory of the mass murdering Iranian president Raisi,” Erdan said in the video. “This body, which makes no effort to free our hostages, tipped their heads today to a man who was responsible for the deaths of thousands in Iran, in Israel, and around the world.”

Erdan declared the Council itself a “danger to world peace.”

Raisi’s political career was marked by an outsized amount of bloodshed, beginning with his time as a top prosecutor. In the 1980s, as part of bureaucratic entities known commonly as “death commissions,” Raisi was part of the decisionmaking process that led to the killing of between 5,000 and 30,000 political prisoners. As president, Raisi handled the government’s brutal crackdown of the peaceful protests that arose in September 2022 following the “morality police” beating to death 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish woman accused of wearing a hijab incorrectly.

Iranians who live in Brazil protest against the death of Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, who died in Iran while in police custody, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Friday, Sept. 23, 2022. (Andre Penner, File/AP)

Also under Raisi, Iran played a key role in the slaughter of an estimated 1,200 people, including children as young as infants, and abduction of about 250 others by the jihadist terror organization Hamas on October 7. A Hamas spokesman told the BBC on October 7 that Raisi’s Iran gave “direct backing for the attack.”

Graphic Content Warning: WATCH — Home Where Hamas Murdered an Israeli Family in Kibbutz Be’eri

The U.N. was not alone in honoring Raisi on Monday. The president of the European Union, Charles Michel, issued a statement claiming to speak for the entire EU, offering “sincere condolences for the death of President Raisi and Foreign Minister Abdollahian, as well as other members of their delegation and crew in a helicopter accident. Our thoughts go to the families.” The American State Department similarly offered “official condolences,” and Senate Chaplain Barry Black offered prayer for “the Iranian people who mourn the death of their president.”

Far from mourning, many Iranians have risked their lives in the past two days publicly celebrating Raisi’s death. Iranian dissident outlets have published videos from Tehran showing fireworks over the city following the news of the helicopter crash and reports have circulated of Iranians joyfully sharing candy and other sweets.

The Iranian regime began forcing its citizens to mourn on Tuesday, organizing massive funeral gatherings for Raisi and Amir-Abdollahian. The Iranian state outlet PressTV claimed that “millions” of Iranians joined funeral processions in the country’s major cities, including the largest in Tehran.

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