President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran will debut on the world stage at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday as his country is rocked by anti-government protests due to the death of a young woman in police custody.
Before departing from Iran for New York on Monday, Mr. Raisi, a hardline cleric, told local media, “I will be the voice of the Iranian people at the United Nations.”
But on Tuesday in cities across Iran, protesters, led by women, called for an end to the Islamic Republic, and many women protested. take their off obligatory headscarves, wave them in the air, tear them off and burn themaccording to witnesses, bulletins and video posted on social media. At least five people were killed, according to one human rights group.
The protests are in response to the death of Mahsa Amini, 22. Her family says she was beaten and injured in the head while she was in the custody of the ethics police, who arrested her for for violating Iran’s head covering law. Ask women to cover their hair and wear loose robes. Authorities denied that claim and Mr Raisi ordered an investigation.
“The situation in Iran will bring shame and embarrassment to Mr. Raisi when he makes his first appearance,” said Ali Akbar Mousavi Khoeini, a reformist Iranian lawmaker who is now a human rights activist in Maryland. first on the world stage. .
Ahead of the United Nations meeting, where Mr. Raisi will give a speech, US officials and European diplomats have said they plan to use the forum and meetings to pressure Iran to recover. restore the 2015 nuclear deal.
President Emmanuel Macron of France, who met Mr. Raisi on Tuesday, told BBC Persian The news service reported that the two talked at length about the nuclear deal, but Mr Macron made it “very clear that we are very supportive of human rights and especially women’s rights”, and “credibility”. Iran’s responsibility is now at stake regarding the fact that they have to deal with this.”
Mr. Raisi’s become president 2021 has caused controversy at home and abroad. The elections are widely seen as designed by eliminating his heavyweights to secure his victory for conservatives to consolidate power.
Mr. Raisi was charged by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch for crimes against humanity for his role in making of 5,000 political prisoners in the 1980s. Mr. Raisi was a member of the committee that screened prisoners and issued execution orders – without due process -. He has defended the murder as justifiable and has not denied his role on the committee.
Several opposition groups are in exile in Iran – ranging from pro-democracy activists to the monarchy to the Mujahedeen Khalq, or MEK, an insurgent group formerly designated a terrorist organization by the US and Europe. – planned protests outside the United Nations in New York City on Wednesday. Join the demonstration will be Ebrahim Hamedi, the Iranian singer known as Ebi who lives in Los Angeles.
