Iran’s repressive regime has declared a five-day mourning period for President Ibrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday, but many Iranians are celebrating the death of the brutal hardliner known as the “Butcher of Tehran” for his role in killing dissidents after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The International Organization for Iran is staffed by opponents of the Iranian regime from around the world. report Even before Raisi’s death was officially confirmed, people danced in the streets and celebratory fireworks were set off over several Iranian cities.
“Let’s celebrate the good news of Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter accident,” a man in Tehran is heard saying in a video sent. @IranIntl.pic.twitter.com/030e51bONv
— Iranian International English (@IranIntl_En) May 19, 2024
“Let’s celebrate the good news of Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter accident,” a resident of Tehran said in a video smuggled to Iran’s International Department.
Iranian women’s rights activist Masi Alinejad cheekily declared Sunday “World Helicopter Day,” joking that “this is the only crash in history where everyone is worried about whether someone will survive.” Ta. Raisi died along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and several other senior officials.
another dark joke circulating Information circulated on the Internet that Raisi’s plane was intentionally brought down by a saboteur named “Eli Copter” working for Israel. This joke rose to the internet stratosphere when the Iranian-backed genocidal terrorist organization Hamas fell for it and cited the “report” as true fact.
New 🇱 National Hero pic.twitter.com/y0df6IZxv0
— Ferdinand Iuliano 🇹 (@ferdinandoiu) May 19, 2024
Iranians in exile celebrated Raisi’s death in London and other cities, dance parties broke out in front of the Iranian embassy, and social media erupted with applause praising Raisi’s ignominious end, but especially against the regime. was praised by the women he brutally oppressed.
Hosted by Mr. Raishi brutal oppression About the mass protests that erupted in September 2022 after a young Kurdish woman named Mahsa Amini was killed by Iran’s “morality police” for not wearing her mandatory headscarf correctly.
Amini’s uprising, officially known as the “Women, Life, Freedom” protest movement after its main slogan, was the biggest challenge to Iran’s brutal regime since it seized power in 1979, and only the harshest of responses have ensured that Raisi and the Ayatollahs remain in power. The regime is still killing people over Amini’s uprising. Just a few weeks ago, a man named Toumaji Salehi executed For writing a rap song about Amini’s death.
Jonathan Harounov, a journalist and lawyer, told Iran International that for many unhappy Iranians, Raisi has been linked to “endemic bureaucratic corruption, disastrous economic mismanagement, soaring inflation, high unemployment” and ” “It has become a symbol of the government’s flaws, including strict censorship,” he said. Political dissent is punishable by severe punishment or the death penalty. ”
Laila, a 21-year-old Iranian student Said Reuters said in a phone interview on Monday that he was not sad to see Raisi go because he had “ordered a crackdown on women for wearing the hijab,” but that “his death will not change this government.” I felt sad thinking about it.
“Who cares? One hardliner dies, another takes over, and our dire situation continues. We are too busy with economic and social problems to hear such news. We can’t afford to worry,” agreed another exhausted Iranian.
Reuters reported that Raisi’s death was a “quiet” event, adding that “emotional rhetoric that accompanies the death of a publicly revered figure like Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) terror mastermind Qasem Soleimani… There were hardly any,” he said.
In this September 18, 2016 file photo published by the official website of Iran’s Supreme Leader’s Office, Revolutionary Guard General Qasem Soleimani (center) attends a conference in Tehran, Iran (Iran via Associated Press) Office of the Supreme Leader, file).
The administration has declared Soleimani a hero and martyr, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad in 2020 while planning a terrorist attack on Americans in Iraq. The Iranian government Ordered Since then, memorial services for Soleimani have been held every year, but many Iranians refuse to attend, and opposition groups often attend. express He expressed his disdain for the regime by defacing a photo of an Revolutionary Guards general.
Maryam Rajavi, head of the opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), said the cynics were wrong and that Raisi’s death was “a monumental blow to the mullahs, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the entire regime.” He hoped that it could deliver a “strategic blow.”
“The curse of the mothers and those who seek justice for the executed mark the legacy of Ebrahim Raisi, the notorious perpetrator of the 1988 massacre of political prisoners, as well as a catastrophe for the Iranian people and history,” Rajavi said. Said on monday.
The administration does not appear to be taking any chances. Iranian cyber police caveat On Sunday, it was announced that social media posts that go against the mandated “national sentiments” – posts celebrating Raisi’s death – would be punished.
Several foreign media organizations have pointed to the increased presence on the streets by the Revolutionary Guards after Raisi’s death, pointing to an increased presence on the streets by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, saying that the brutal theocratic wing of Iran’s military This suggests that they are prepared to suppress demonstrations that do not reflect their sentiments.
The official reaction to Raisi’s death is that the government has not yet decided who will be held responsible for the fatal helicopter crash, and that Rajavi may be right about the damage to an already unstable government. It may be a little modest.
“This incident occurred against a backdrop of extremely high tensions in the region due to the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip and recent military exchanges between Iran and Israel,” said Sina Toushi, senior fellow at the Center for International Policy. he said. I got it..
“There is also increasing talk among Iranian officials about weaponizing the country’s nuclear program.Furthermore, the successor to the aging supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei is a key element in Iran’s political landscape, and This is compounded by the crisis of legitimacy facing the republic.”
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei waves to the media after voting in parliamentary runoff elections, Friday, May 10, 2024, in Tehran, Iran (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi).
Mr. Tusi concluded that Mr. Raisi’s death could “contribute to an already volatile situation,” especially since Mr. Raisi is a likely candidate to become supreme leader after the death or retirement of the ailing Ayatollah Khamenei. This is because it was considered. In fact, the “Expert Assembly” that nominally “selects” the supreme leader, It is scheduled A chairman was to be chosen this week, and Raisi would almost certainly have agreed.
Other observers believe the administration may decide to scapegoat Mr. Raisi for a number of disastrous domestic and foreign policy failures over the past few years, a strategy that may include the death of Mr. Soleimani. He wondered if a much quieter funeral than the staged hysteria would be needed.Raishi is elected The 2021 “election” farce with extremely low turnout resulted in only a small percentage of votes. His corpse would therefore be an excellent political punching bag, since he never enjoyed any popular mandate.
Ben Tubul of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) Said The Iranian regime is “quite happy with the way Iran has been doing things since October 7,” he said, but the public is clearly dissatisfied and the protest movement that surged after Amini’s death “is not dead yet.”
Taburu said protesters have learned to “work at the lower levels, at the periphery, usually in strikes and trade unions.”
Regarding Raisi’s death, he said, “It could lead to a nationwide spread of infection, and it could turn into an empty burger.” “But the story of the Iranian protests has always been not a question of when.”
