Iran becomes target of protests outside UN headquarters

The start of the new session of the UN General Assembly has coincided with a series of protests in New York against some world leaders, such as the new Peruvian president Pedro Castillo or the Somali Abdullahi Mohamed. However, the figure of Ebrahim Raisi, along with other relevant Iranian personalities such as Ayatollah Khamenei, has been at the centre of the demonstrations.

With banners bearing phrases such as "Ebrahim Raisi must be investigated for crimes against humanity" and "a government of terrorists", dozens of people took to the streets of New York to show their rejection of the new Iranian administration. Also, according to images and videos published by the organisation Iranian Americans for Freedom, several vans drove through the avenues of the city with pictures of Raisi and panels accusing Iran of "promoting terrorism", "murdering homosexuals" and "oppressing women".

Raisi is linked to mass killings and torture of dissidents in the 1980s, when the current president was head of the country's judiciary. Moreover, several ministers in his administration have been sanctioned by the US. One of them, Interior Minister Ahmed Wahidi, has even been accused of involvement in the 1994 bombing of the Israeli-Argentine Mutual Association (AMIA). The attack on the Jewish centre in Buenos Aires killed 85 people. Protesters also pointed to Khamenei as one of the masterminds of the massacres of political opponents in 1988.

The protests also included messages to Western powers, calling on them to impose sanctions on the Iranian regime. In addition, more than 400 Iranian-American academics sent a letter to US President Joe Biden, urging him to call for Raisi to be tried before an international tribunal. Washington has pledged to hold Tehran accountable for its past actions, and the UN has made several calls for human rights in Iran, but the Iranian community in the US has lamented the lack of action.

Moreover, the Iranian diaspora demonstrated in other parts of the world as Raisi addressed the UN General Assembly. Cities such as Paris, London, Brussels, Vancouver and The Hague have witnessed protests against the Tehran regime's systematic abuse of human rights.

The 1988 mass executions are an event that is very much in the minds of Iranian opponents of the regime. Prior to these protests, the Iranian community in the US, Canada and some European countries organised photo exhibitions commemorating the murdered citizens. Also, Maryam Rajavi, a leader of the resistance against the ayatollahs' regime, initiated a campaign in 2016 seeking justice for the dissidents. In addition, Rajavi spearheaded a recent conference in Sweden to seek justice. This summit was attended by survivors of the massacre and some European politicians.

"The experience of the last 33 years is a testimony. Future history will witness that the movement for justice for the victims of the 1988 massacre has overcome the silence and complacency of the regime's accomplices," the opposition leader said.

"We urge the international community, in particular Sweden and the European Union, to recognise the massacre of political prisoners as genocide and a crime against humanity. We call on them to take the necessary steps to refer this case to the UN Security Council, to end impunity and to bring to justice those responsible for this great crime, especially Ali Jameini and Ebrahim Raisi," he added.

The Iranian leader described the US sanctions as a "new form of war". Moreover, according to Raisi, in this time of economic instability due to the coronavirus pandemic, these sanctions amount to "crimes against humanity".

The new president also used the recent events in Afghanistan and the assault on the Capitol in January to slam Washington. "From Capitol Hill to Kabul, a clear message has been sent to the world: the US hegemonic system has no credibility, whether outside or inside the country," Raisi said. "The United States does not leave Iraq and Afghanistan, it is expelled," he stressed.

"The world doesn't care about 'America first' or 'America is back'," he added, alluding to the political slogans of Donald Trump and Joe Biden, respectively.

Israel was another country Raisi sharply criticised. The Iranian cleric called the Hebrew state a "Zionist occupying regime" and accused it of organising "the greatest state terrorism, massacring women and children".