Deputy United States Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood stood for a moment of silence for deceased Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Monday, despite his reputation for being a brutal and oppressive leader.
This is US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood standing for a moment of silence in honor of the former Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi today at the UN Security Council meeting.
Reminder: Raisi represented the government that calls for “death to America.” pic.twitter.com/7bkihCLkgT
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyDillon) May 20, 2024
The gesture, for the late leader who was known as the “Butcher of Tehran,” drew outrage from American Jews and Israelis. Iran has funded terrorism against Israel and Western targets in the Middle East for decades.
For just a moment, it looked like U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood would refuse to rise. And then he stood up.https://t.co/tPQZQlQ4yD pic.twitter.com/5ovKTcypF3
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) May 20, 2024
A profoundly shameful moment at the UN Security Council as the US ambassador stands for a moment of silence to honor the Butcher of Tehran pic.twitter.com/EA2U7oMmt0
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) May 20, 2024
In recent months, Iran-backed terrorist groups in Iraq and Iran have targeted U.S. troops in the region, killing three and wounding scores more. The Iran-backed Houthis have been targeting U.S. military and international commercial ships in the Red Sea.
Some also condemned the United Nations for holding the moment of silence in the first place. Israeli journalist Emily Schrader said:
The UN Security Council just held a moment of silence for the death of Islamic Republic President Raisi — whose nickname is the “butcher of Tehran”. He is responsible for the hanging of thousands of protesters. The UN is applauding modern day Goebbels.
The UN Security Council just held a moment of silence for the death of Islamic Republic President Raisi — whose nickname is the “butcher of Tehran”
He is responsible for the hanging of thousands of protesters. The UN is applauding modern day Goebbelspic.twitter.com/0lERVYOof9
— Emily Schrader – אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) May 20, 2024
Raisi died Sunday in a helicopter crash, which sent shock waves around the world and also prompted celebration by Iranian dissidents. Raisi was named the “Butcher of Tehran” for his role in murdering dissidents after the 1979 Islamic revolution, as John Hayward reported.
Raisi died alongside Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and several other high-ranking Iranian officials.
Raisi also presided over a brutal crackdown on protests in Iran after a young Kurdish woman named Mahsa Amini was killed in September 2022 by Iran’s “morality police” for not wearing her mandatory headscarf correctly.
