Rejoicing In Iran Over President Raisi's Death In Helicopter...

Rejoicing In Iran Over President Raisi's Death In Helicopter Crash

Following the announcement of the deaths of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian in a helicopter crash in northwestern Iran on May 19, 2024, many Western countries expressed their condolences. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi, and senior EU officials went out of their way to express condolences over Raisi's death and honor the man the Iranian public calls "the Executioner of Tehran."[1]

Raisi was known as the "Executioner of Tehran" for his involvement in the execution of thousands of Iranian oppositionists in 1988, when he was Tehran deputy prosecutor and a member of what was widely known as the "Death Commission." After that, as a senior official in the Iranian judiciary, he oversaw the repression of Iranian citizens, and, as president, the violent suppression of the civil protests in October 2022 that followed the death in police custody of the young Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini after she was detained for improper hijab wear. He was also in charge of implementing the harsh hijab enforcement policy for women and teen girls in the country, under which they are routinely beaten, in some cases to death.

In In stark contrast to the messages of condolence and sympathy from Western countries and organizations, social networks in Farsi were flooded with rejoicing. Social media comments, tweets, memes, cartoons, videos, photos and other online content (see below), Iranians expressed their joy at Raisi's death in the helicopter crash. Additionally, hashtags such as #IranIsHappy were trending.


The Regime's Preparation For Expressions Of Joy
The regime-affiliated "Penal Committee" channel on Telegram asked readers to submit documentation of Iranians online mocking Raisi's death so as to "punish those who oppose the revolution." The channel was full of names and actual personal information of thousands of Iranians, submitted in order to intimidate and punish them.

1. Joy And Biting Ridicule In Iran And Outside It

Many videos showing fireworks in cities across Iran were shared online – even from the religious city of Mashhad, Raisi's birthplace:

Saeed Afkari, The Brother Of A Wrestler Who Was Executed By The Iranian Regime: "I Have Not Seen My Mother This Happy"

https://www.memri.org/reports/rejoicing-iran-over-president-raisis-death-helicopter-crash