Photo by Kobi Richter/TPS on 27 February, 2020

‘Unfathomable’: Israel Angered by International Silence Over Swearing-in of Iran’s Raisi

By Aryeh Savir/TPS • 5 August, 2021

Jerusalem, 5 August, 2021 (TPS) -- Israel lashed out at the international community for its silence and even compliance over the swearing-in of Iran’s new president Ebrahim Raisi.

“Today Ebrahim Raisi, known as the Butcher of Tehran for his role in executing thousands of Iranians, will be sworn in as President of the Iranian regime,” the Foreign Ministry stated.

In June, Amnesty International stated that Raisi “must be investigated for crimes against humanity” after having served on the “death commission” that forcibly disappeared and extrajudicially executed in secret thousands of political dissidents in Evin and Gohardasht prisons near Tehran in 1988.

The Foreign Ministry noted that on Thursday, the day of the swearing-in, #RaisiTerrorist was trending as Iranians took to Twitter to protest Raisi’s inauguration.

It further pointed out that Raisi “spearheaded” a campaign to promote the Protocols of the Elders of Zion across Iran, “an anti-Semitic work which demonizes Jews.”

“It is unfathomable that a murderer who has been accused of crimes against humanity will take the seat as the President of the Iranian regime, as representatives from the international community sit by and watch,” the Foreign Ministry said.

At least 115 officials from 73 countries, including Special Envoy of Pope Francis Christophe Zakhia El-Kassis and senior representatives of the European Union headed by High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Enrique Mora, are attending the ceremony in Tehran.

“The participation of the EU representative in the ceremony comes just a few days after Iran killed two civilians, one of whom was from an EU member State, in an act of state terrorism against civilian shipping,” Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lior Haiat stated Monday evening.

He warned that “flattery and subservience to violent and totalitarian regimes only encourage further violence and aggression.”

Israel “strongly” recommended the EU to “immediately cancel their shameful participation in the inauguration ceremony of the butcher of Tehran,” but its call went unheeded.