Israel denounced UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for signing a condolence book at Iran’s mission to the UN over the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan tweeted, “.@antonioguterres while you write your condolences for a mass-murdering terror-supporting tyrant, do you bother to give any thought to the thousands he murdered? You bow your head in mourning as the Iranian people continue to be oppressed and the Ayatollah’s proxies rain death and destruction across the region.”
צפו בשפל החדש: מזכ״ל האו״ם מגיע במיוחד למשלחת האיראנית כדי לכתוב הספד לזכרו של ״הקצב מטהרן״ ראיסי. אין יותר מילים כדי לתאר את החרפה והגועל שהאו״ם מעורר. pic.twitter.com/UDxSkCAMDN
— Ambassador Gilad Erdan גלעד ארדן (@giladerdan1) May 26, 2024
Erdan added, “Stop eulogizing terrorists. Start standing up to them.”
The tweet included a video of Guterres visiting the Iranian mission and signing the condolence book.
According to Iranian media, nearly 100 international diplomats have signed the condolence book, including UN Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed of Nigeria.
Raisi, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and six other passengers were killed when their helicopter crashed in a mountainous area of northern Iran in foggy conditions on May 19.
Alex Grinman, an Iran expert at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security told The Press Service of Israel Raisi earned the nickname, “The Butcher of Tehran,” because “during his revolutionary years, he sent many people to death” in his role in a revolutionary court, Grinman explained. “None of these people were criminals.” Thousands of political dissidents were tortured and executed in 1988 while others disappeared.
Grinman told TPS-IL that Raisi was “not very important” and that the president’s role is simply “executing the Supreme Guide’s policies,” referring to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“The president has no say, even a formal one, over foreign policy or Iran’s regional policy such as the proxy wars and support for terrorist organizations. So from this vantage point, Raisi’s death is not very important,” Grinman explained.
Shortly after Raisi’s death was confirmed, the UN Security Council held a minute of silence for the Iranian president, which also raised Israeli ire.
