The death of President Ebrahim Raisi was greeted with grief and relief in Iran after it was confirmed that he was among those killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday.
Videos and photos showed a large crowd of people gathered in Vali-e-Asr Square in central Tehran starting Sunday evening, many appearing to pray and some visibly distressed to learn that Raisi was one of the eight people on board who were killed.
“Our honorable Raisi has worked tirelessly,” Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s head of state, said on Monday. messages on. “He was totally dedicated to serving the people and Islam non-stop.”
Raisi and other officials, including Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, were returning from the Azerbaijani border, where the president had inaugurated a checkpoint with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, when the plane crashed.
A video from Iran’s official news agency appeared to show Red Crescent workers carrying a covered body on a stretcher through a wooded area on Monday. NBC News was unable to independently verify the video.
It was unclear what caused the accident.
It is clear from online reactions that Raisi, remembered by many in Iran and beyond for presiding over the brutal crackdown on political opponents and protesters, was not universally admired and loved.
Raisi, 63, was known by some as the “Butcher of Tehran” for having been one of four judges accused by activists of overseeing the execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 following the Iran-Iraq war. According to Human Rights Watch, between 2,800 and 5,000 people were killed, but Iran has never publicly acknowledged the incident.
“As deputy attorney general of Tehran,” the U.S. Treasury Department said in a 2019 sanctions announcement, “Raisi participated in a so-called ‘death commission’ that ordered the extrajudicial killings of thousands of political prisoners in 1988.”
Social media is monitored and restricted in Iran, but outside the country some have turned to banned platforms like X to share celebratory messages.
“Goodbye the butcher of Tehran. You won’t be missed!” Iranian-Canadian actor and producer Shiva Negar, which is based in the United States, wrote in a job on X, according to a LinkedIn page appearing to belong to him.
“The once untouchable tyrant meets a fate that he has often inflicted on others,” said Dr. Nina Ansary, a prominent Iranian-American author and historian who is also director of the Cambridge Forum for Women’s Leadership Initiative. the Middle East and North Africa at the University of Cambridge. She shared a video purporting to show fireworks in Iran.
“His death is karma at its finest, but for a mass murderer, this quick end may seem far too easy,” Ansary said in a statement. post on.
A conservative and hard-line cleric, Raïssi rose to the presidency in 2021 after a number of popular candidates were disqualified in elections with historically low voter turnout.
His short tenure included overseeing the repression of mass protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16, 2022, days after her arrest by Iranian morality police. for allegedly failing to follow mandatory government rules regarding the wearing of headscarves for women and other gender-based restrictions.
Iranian authorities carried out a massive crackdown on protests following Amini’s death. Thousands of protesters were arrested and more than 500 are believed to have died, according to the United Nations, with some publicly executed.
Iranian authorities responded to protesters’ challenge by stepping up efforts to enforce the government’s dress code “using a range of tactics,” HRW says on its website. Earlier this month, Amnesty International warned that Iranian security forces had “intensified their enforcement of compulsory veiling in public spaces”, including through violent means.
Regardless of what political opponents said, condolences from world leaders poured in hours after Raisi’s death, with Aliyev saying his country was “deeply shocked” by the incident following Raisi’s visit.
Leaders from the Arab world, including Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq, offered their condolences.
China and Russia, which have forged closer ties with Iran, expressed their condolences, with Russian President Vladimir Putin describing Raisi as an “outstanding politician” who “rightly enjoyed the great respect of his compatriots and of an important authority abroad.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, meanwhile, said on X that he was “deeply saddened and shocked” by Raisi’s “tragic” passing.
In Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that his country would observe a day of mourning “as a mark of respect”.
Charles Michel, President of the European Council said The “thoughts of the European Union are with the families” of those killed in Sunday’s accident.
Hamas leaders also paid tribute early, calling Raisi’s death an “unfortunate accident and a painful tragedy.” The militant group that controls the Gaza Strip has long been supported by Iran, which has long been a public supporter of Palestinian rights.
Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, both backed by Iran, offered their condolences.
First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, 68, who led an “emergency meeting” on Monday, according to the official IRNA news agency, was named interim president until new elections are held in 50 days.
Khamenei said there would be no disruption in state affairs.
Raisi’s funeral was expected on Tuesday, IRNA reported.
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