The United Nations flag was flown at half-mast on Tuesday in honor of the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash on Monday.
Raisi, nicknamed the “Butcher of Tehran” for his oversight of mass executions of political prisoners in 1988, died along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other Iranian officials who were on the helicopter when it crashed in a region mountainous in the northwest of the country. . Several UN member countries have offered their condolences to the Iranian regime, a show of support for the state sponsor of terrorism that has outraged human rights activists and Iran hawks.
“You could say that this sign of respect from the UN toward mass murderers and terrorist executioners is not a surprise,” said Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, and president of Human Rights Voices.
“The UN Security Council or the General Assembly has refused to condemn the terrorist organization Hamas and its October 7 atrocities, orchestrated through Tehran. Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism, but the UN does not have a definition of terrorism because Islamic states claim to kill Jews and other targets, including Americans, is not terrorism,” Bayefsky said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
UN KEEPS MOMENT OF SILENCE FOR 'BUTCHER OF TEHRAN' RAISI AFTER IRAN PRESIDENT DIES IN HELICOPTER CRASH
The United Nations lowered its flag to half-mast on Tuesday to honor Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country's foreign minister and others who died in a helicopter crash on Monday. (NUTV)
Thousands of miles from U.N. headquarters in New York City, mourners dressed in black began gathering Tuesday for days of funerals and processions in Iran to honor the dead. The mass demonstrations will be policed by the Shiite theocracy, and prosecutors have already warned people against any public signs of celebrating his death and a heavy security presence seen on the streets of Tehran since the crash, The Associated Press reported.
Raisi, 63, was seen as a possible successor to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 85. His death now calls that election into question, particularly because there is no cleric heir apparent to the presidency ahead of elections scheduled for June 28.
The United Nations flag at half-mast on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in honor of the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. (NUTV)
It is unclear what international presence the funeral in Tehran will draw, as Raisi faced US sanctions for his involvement in mass executions in 1988 and for abuses against protesters and dissidents while he led the country's judiciary. Iran, under Raisi, also sent bomb-carrying drones to Russia to be used in its war against Ukraine.
“I do not feel comfortable sending my condolences while Iran sends drones that are used against civilians in Ukraine,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis wrote in an X post.
'BUTCHER OF TEHRAN' DEAD BUT RAISI'S LEGACY CONTINUES AS IRAN APPOINTS INTERIM PRESIDENT
Mourners gather around a truck carrying the coffins of President Ebrahim Raisi and his companions who died in his helicopter crash on Sunday, during a funeral ceremony in Tabriz, Iran, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. (Ata Dadashi, Fars News Agency via AP)
UK Security Minister Tom Tugendhat made similar comments in an X post. “President Raisi's regime has murdered thousands of people in his country and attacked people here in Britain and across Europe. I do not I will cry,” he wrote.
The United Nations on Monday observed a minute of silence in memory of Raisi at the request of representatives of Russia, China and Algeria. U.S. Deputy U.N. Ambassador Robert Wood and others were at the U.N. Security Council for one minute to honor Raisi. The support shown for the Iranian leader has dismayed Bayefsky and others who closely follow the regime's human rights abuses.
“The most concerning aspect of honoring Raisi now is that the UN operates with a herd mentality and the Biden administration, leader of the largest and most powerful democracy in the world, thinks it is part of the herd,” Bayefsky told Fox News Digital.
STATE DEPARTMENT DENIES IRAN'S EXTRAORDINARY REQUEST FOR US ASSISTANCE AFTER DEADLY HELICOPTER CRASH: 'LOGISTICAL REASONS'
President Ebrahim Raisi attends a meeting with his Azeri counterpart in Azerbaijan, on the Iran-Azerbaijan border, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)
He called Monday's moment of silence “a disservice to all victims of Raisi's reign of terror and oppression, both inside and outside Iran.”
The Israeli ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, who described the moment of silence as a “disgrace”, harshly criticized the international organization for continuing to honor the president of Iran, a “mass murderer”, by lowering the flag.
“What will it be tomorrow? Will a UN room be named after him? The moral compass of the UN is in the gutter and the organization is an affront to true defenders of human rights,” Erdan said.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Fox News Digital that the honors bestowed on Raisi were an insult to the Iranian people.
“The UN and the Biden administration should honor the victims of the Iranian regime, not the Butcher of Tehran. Tributes to Raisi are a slap in the face to all those who suffered under his reign,” Scott said.
Another Republican on the committee, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said “the job is better with Ibrahim Raisi dead.”
“Known as the 'Butcher of Tehran,' he was a mass murderer repeatedly sanctioned for his atrocities. He called for the murder of Jews and American officials. With this action, the UN has completely ridiculed itself: flying the flag at half-mast to honor to a murderous and totalitarian monster is simply shameful,” Cruz said.
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State Department Spokesman Matt Miller addressed U.S. participation in the moment of silence at an afternoon news conference.
Asked whether the participation was appropriate, Miller clarified that “we have made it abundantly clear that Ebrahim Raisi was a brutal participant in the repression of the Iranian people for almost four decades.”
“Some of the worst human rights abuses occurred during his tenure as president, especially human rights abuses against the women and girls of Iran,” Miller said. “That said, we regret any loss of life. We don't want to see anyone die in a helicopter crash. But that doesn't change the reality of his record, both as a judge and as president of Iran.”
Bradford Betz of Fox News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
