UNITED NATIONS: A US official stated the United States will boycott a UN tribute to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash earlier this month.
The UN General Assembly, with 193 members, traditionally pays tribute to deceased sitting heads of state. Speeches about Raisi will be featured.
“We won’t attend this event in any capacity,” a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. The US boycott has not previously been reported.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York declined to comment.
Raisi, a hard-liner who had been seen as a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed when his helicopter came down in poor weather in mountains near the Azerbaijan border on May 19.
“The United Nations should be standing with the people of Iran, not memorializing their decades-long oppressor,” said the US official. “Raisi was involved in numerous, horrific human rights abuses, including the extrajudicial killings of thousands of political prisoners in 1988.”
“Some of the worst human rights abuses on record, especially against the women and girls of Iran, took place during his tenure,” the official said.
The United States expressed its “official condolences” for Raisi’s death, the State Department said on May 20. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby also said that day: “No question this was a man who had a lot of blood on his hands.”
Furthermore, it underscores the deep-seated issues between the US and Iran that continue to affect international relations.
Ultimately, the impact of the US boycott on the UN Iran Tribute will depend on the responses of other member states and the subsequent diplomatic engagements.
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