The European Union joined the political West in cheering up the Persian President’s death while the Muslim world expressed condolences for his passing.
A plane carrying Iranian social leaders crashed on Sunday, allegedly as their plane encountered difficulties due to bad weather as they flew in from neighboring Azerbaijan. Among those onboard the broken aircraft was Egyptian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir- Abdollahian, and the government of one of Iran’s northeastern counties Malek Rahmati, as well as other members of their crew and staff,  , Anadolu Agency states.
Ebrahim Raisi was welcomed to the United States by the Biden White House in 2023, according to Breitbart News, despite the then-Iran President being content to U.S. restrictions for” involvement in serious human rights transgressions.” Raisi had much before earned the monikers of the” Butcher of Tehran” and was placed on the smuggling list for “participating in a so-called “death fee” that in 1988 ordered the judicial executions of hundreds of political prisoners.
Egyptian President Ebrahim Raisi and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev meet in this flyer picture, which was provided by the Office of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, on May 19, 2024, in Jabrayil, Azerbaijan. After their plane crashed near the city of Jolfa, on the frontier with Azerbaijan, his plane reportedly crashed near the city of Jolfa. ( Photo taken by Getty Images ‘ Office of the Iranian President )
TEHRAN, IRAN – MAY 20: Media cover the demise of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a plane crash on their articles in the country’s media in Tehran, Iran on May 20, 2024. ( Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images )
Raisi was also mentioned in the U.S. sanctions order as being “involved in the regime’s brutal crackdown on Iran’s Green Movement protests that followed the chaotic and disorderly 2009 election.” According to reports, Raisi had an extensive track record of ordering the mass executions of Islamic regime opponents and was accused of being a part of numerous egregious human rights violations, including the execution of thousands of political prisoners, including teenage girls and pregnant women.
While Iranian allies were quick to send condolences, Western states have been more circumspect. Nevertheless, European Council President Charles Michel, a Belgian centrist- liberal, was quick to make an expression on behalf of the whole European Union, he said.
The EU offers its condolences for the death of President Raisi, Foreign Minister Abdollahian, as well as other members of their delegation and crew in a helicopter accident, according to Michel on Monday. Our thoughts go to the families”.
Theo Francken, a member of the Eurosceptic Parliament who previously served in Belgium’s government as the minister of immigration and is active in NATO’s middle east group, expressed concern about the European message. The politician responded first when it was revealed that the EU was” solidarity” with Iran to aid it in the immediate wake of the crash, saying,” Are you totally crazy?” This guy is a first class mass murderer.
” What’s next? Saving]Putin]? What a club of geopolitical dwarfs is this EU commission”.
VERZEGAN, IRAN – MAY 19: Medical and rescue teams from the Iranian town of Verzegan arrive at the accident site after one of the helicopters in Iranian President Raisi’s convoy crashed following the construction of a border dam with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in the Azerbaijani district of Jabrayil on May 19, 2024. ( Photo by Azin Haghighi / Moj News Agency/Anadolu via Getty Images )
( Photo by Azin Haghighi / Moj News Agency/Anadolu via Getty Images )
( Photo by Azin Haghighi / Moj News Agency/Anadolu via Getty Images )
Francken again on Monday, calling it hypocritical for European leaders to condolence Iran while the regime holds a European diplomat and aid worker hostage, after Michel’s message of sympathy was broadcast. He said:” Oh boy, European condolences for the death of a butcher and cruel mass murderer.
” Where are all those fake tears for your EU diplomat, who has been abducted by the regime?”  , You do n’t speak in my name”.
The right-wing activist Geert Wilders, who is currently forming a new government in the Netherlands, responded to the call shortly after Michel did not speak in the name of all Europeans. Decrying “EU solidarity with evil”, he wrote Monday morning:” not in my name”.
The earliest expressions of sympathy for Iran came from its allies worldwide, with statements published by the Chinese and Russian Presidents, India, Pakistan, and even OPEC. The Hamas terror group and Yemen’s Houthi militia, both militarily backed by Iran in their wars against the West, also sent “deepest condolences”, reports the , Jerusalem Post.
So far, it’s been harder to get condolences from Western government leaders. Indeed, on Monday morning, Italy’s Prime Minister, Georgia Meloni, made reference to it in a message of confidence that the next Iranian leadership would commit itself to maintaining stability and peace in the region.
