All representatives of the UN Security Council, including the United States, United Kingdom and France, observed a solemn minute of silence in honor of the passing of Iran’s president! The extended silence resonated globally, prompting deep contemplation about the erosion of humanity’s foundational values, upon which this very organization was founded. 

Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio swiftly released a statement, declaring, ‘The regime in Tehran has lost one of its bloodiest hardliners. Since before his sham presidential election, President Raisi subjugated the Iranian people to years of repression and left behind a reign of terror. From his support of international terrorism, mass murders of the Iranian people, and other human rights abuses, the world won’t soon forget Raisi’s atrocities.’  

While Iranians worldwide celebrated the sudden demise of the Butcher, Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton voiced disappointment with the Biden administration’s ‘condolences,’ stating on X that, ‘Under the ‘Butcher of Tehran,’ Iran armed and assisted terrorists with American blood on their hands. Offering condolences for the death of this monster is a disgrace.’

The situation took a darker turn when President Joe Biden’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken, defended offering ‘condolences’ for Raisi during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in response to Wyoming Republican Senator John Barrasso. Blinken went as far as to label it as the ‘normal course of business,’ further exacerbating the controversy.  

On Sunday, May 12, breaking news struck as a helicopter carrying Raisi, his foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian — who also happened to be an IRGC general — and several other delegates crashed. They were returning from the far north-western province of Iran’s East Azerbaijan after attending the inauguration of the Qiz-Qalasi dam, a joint hydroelectric power project with neighboring Azerbaijan along the Aras River.  

Among those present at the ceremony were Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, alongside potentially several undercover Mossad observers. While Israel denied any involvement in such an attack, as expected, the news quickly spread across social media platforms, with Iranians worldwide expressing gratitude to Israel with messages like, ‘Thank You, Israel!’  

Iran’s regime attributed the crash to adverse weather conditions. However, given the strong relationship between Israel and Azerbaijan, speculation arose about the possibility of a missile attack by Israel’s capable military. Israel may have perceived this as a retaliatory measure against the Iranian regime, which had recently launched over 300 missiles and drones toward Israel.  

Since the formation of the Islamic Republic in 1979, Iran has never experienced genuine elections. The ruling clerics have adopted tactics from Soviet Russia and Communist China to manipulate elections, control media and suppress opposition, ensuring their perpetual hold on power.  

The Iranian constitution introduces three additional branches of government above the traditional three —Executive, Legislative and Judicial — to obfuscate despotic rule. It’s worth noting that Russia and China, much like the Islamic Republic of Iran, do not adhere to the true principles of republicanism.  

All can be classified as ‘tainted republics,’ a concept I extensively discuss in my recent book, ‘The Spirit of the Constitutional Law.’ These are dictatorships that bear the title of ‘republic’ while employing sham election systems to deceive both the international community and their own citizens about the nature of their governance. 

While presidential elections ostensibly occur every four years, candidates must first obtain approval from the supreme leader, who wields absolute authority in Iran. His Guardian Council, comprised of 12 loyal minions, controls every election process. Consequently, there has never been an elected president in Iran; all have been handpicked and appointed by the supreme leader, the chief orchestrator of tyranny in Tehran. 

Given these facts, it begs the question: How did Blinken fail to recognize this glaring reality? Raisi wasn’t an elected president but rather appointed, known for his role as a selected serial murderer working under the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. It’s regrettable to offer ‘condolences’ for Raisi’s death and label it as the ‘normal course of business,’ especially when the majority of Iranians were celebrating his sudden demise.  

Here are a few more insights for those seeking a deeper understanding of Raisi. At the tender age of 19, during the inception of the mullahs’ Islamic regime in Iran in 1979, Raisi began his journey. By the age of 20, devoid of any legal or academic qualifications, he was appointed as a judge, tasked with signing hundreds of execution orders targeting army officers deemed disloyal to the regime.  

As detailed in my book, ‘Comrade Ayatollah,’ Raisi emerged as a key figure in Khamenei’s covert circle of assassins, instrumental in facilitating Khamenei’s ascent to power, first as president in 1981 and later as the second supreme leader in 1989. Notably, Raisi and his colleague Mohseni-Ezhei, now appointed by Khamenei as the head of the Judiciary Branch, signed a pivotal letter on May 28, 1986. This letter effectively halted investigations into Khamenei’s potential involvement in the assassinations of the Chief Justice Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, President Mohammad-Ali Rajaei, and Prime Minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar and other prominent revolutionaries in the summer of 1981.  

These deaths cleared the path for Khamenei’s consolidation of power and subsequent presidency later that year. In 1988, Raisi earned the infamous moniker, ‘The Butcher of Tehran,’ for his role in orchestrating mass executions of thousands of political prisoners. Throughout the years, he continued to wield his lethal authority to eliminate dissenters and maintain the supreme leader’s grip on power.   

Iran’s regime attributed the crash to adverse weather conditions. However, given the strong relationship between Israel and Azerbaijan, speculation arose about the possibility of a missile attack by Israel’s capable military. Israel may have perceived this as a retaliatory measure against the Iranian regime, which had recently launched over 300 missiles and drones toward Israel.  

In 2019, as chief justice appointed by Khamenei, Raisi oversaw the brutal crackdown on thousands of young protesters across two hundred cities. Last year, following his selection as president by the supreme leader, hundreds more young protesters lost their lives in over 500 cities, sparked by the killing of Mahsa Amini by regime authorities.  

Did Raisi deserve the one minute of silence proposed by Russia and China at the United Nations? This is a question for you and the Biden administration to ponder.