Human Rights Campaign for Iran Warns: The Global Community Should Not Allow Raisi's Death to Lead to Increased Repression

The human rights organization 'Human Rights Campaign for Iran' issued a statement warning of the potential increase in repression in Iran following the death of Ebrahim Raisi. The statement on Tuesday from the Human Rights Campaign for Iran says, 'Amidst the ongoing and widespread repression of opponents and critics of the regime, the death of Ebrahim Raisi should not become an excuse for the officials of the Islamic Republic to impose security and judicial pressures more harshly on civil society.' Hadi Ghaemi, the director of this organization, has urged the global community to pay attention to this issue and 'not allow the Islamic Republic to use the incident of Ebrahim Raisi's death to further repress and inflict violence on the people of Iran.' The statement notes that Iran has witnessed 'an unprecedented level of governmental violence and harassment of peace activists' since Raisi took office as president. In another part of the statement, the organization mentions that Ebrahim Raisi 'issued orders for the strict enforcement of mandatory hijab policies across the country only a few months before the government killing of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini and continuously encouraged the Islamic Consultative Assembly to legalize the hijab and chastity bill, under which women refusing to wear hijab in public and other citizens opposing mandatory hijab, including business owners, face severe penalties.' Hadi Ghaemi stated, 'Ebrahim Raisi was a military president who is afraid of his own people' and 'he was just an iron boot on the throat of the Iranian people,' and others 'can easily' take his place. The helicopter carrying Ebrahim Raisi, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Amir Hossein Abdollahian, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, disappeared on September 21 in East Azerbaijan Province, and news of their deaths and other passengers of that helicopter was published on the morning of September 22, Iranian time. In the early hours of the helicopter's disappearance, various reports emerged from state media about general warnings from security and law enforcement officials of the Islamic Republic to social media users regarding the content they publish about this incident. Reactions to the news of Raisi's death ranged from 'National Helicopter Celebration' to dancing and distributing sweets in the streets. European lawmakers criticized the EU officials' response to Raisi's death: 'Do not express solidarity with the perpetrators of the repression of Iranians.' The Ukrainian airplane association reacted to Ebrahim Raisi's death: 'He played a role in the shooting down of a passenger flight.' The news of Raisi's death and the celebrations of the plaintiffs: Justice will be served in 'people's court or the mountains of Varzaghan.'