Opening apologies to Iran for the demise of President Ebrahim Raisi in a plane crash on Sunday, according to State Secretary Antony Blinken, was the “normal course of business.”
Without mentioning Raisi’s terrible legacy, including the recent prosecution of pro-democracy protesters and the execution of hundreds of political detainees in the 1980s, the State Department offered apologies.
Raisi was also viewed as a hardliner, and he suppressed protests by women, including Mahsa Amini, leading to what Breitbart News ‘ Frances Martel described as” some of the most violent repression of dissidents caught on camera in Iran.”
When Sen. John Barrasso ( R- WY ) asked Blinken about the State Department’s condolences, Blinken said that it was the “normal course of business”, and did not change the facts about Raisi, or American policy toward Iran.
Later, when Sen. Ted Cruz ( R- TX ) followed up with questions about the State Department’s condolences, Blinken conceded that” the Iranian people are probably better off” without him. Blinken falsely claimed that the State Department’s sympathies had made that level.
The whole statement follows:
The demise of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian, and other users of their group in a plane crash in west Iran is the country’s standard apologies. We reaffirm our support for the Persian people and their fight for fundamental rights as Iran elects a new leader.
Sen. Barrasso said that Raisi was “responsible for death, rape, torture — he’s a declared enemy of the complimentary world”. He called Raisi the” Butcher of Tehran”, and said that the State Department’s sympathies had been” a horrible mistake”.
Joel B. Pollak is Top Editor- at- Big at Breitbart News and the number of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday night from 7 p. m. to 10 p. m. ET ( 4 p. m. to 7 p. m. Platinum ). He is the creator of the latest e- guide,” The Zionist Conspiracy ( and how to meet it )”, now available on Audible. He is also the creator of the electronic- text, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U. S. Presidential Election. He is a champion of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Following him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
