Buckets of blood dripped from Ebrahim Raisi, the 8^th president of Iran, for his roles on the “Death Committee” and other atrocities under his direction. He wore a black turban to claim that he descended from the Prophet Muhammad. The Shiite president did not survive the helicopter crash of May 19, 2024. Who will mourn the death of an evil man who presided over the death and torture of so many?

Dissidents were tortured, subjected to cruel inhuman treatment, and killed. A political purge against political dissidents lasted five months during 1988. Ordered by Ayatollah Khomeini, the “Death Committee” was a secret tribunal with four members, including Raisi. People were loaded into forklift trucks in groups of six and hanged from cranes in half-hour intervals. Amnesty International claims the numbers were between 2,800-3,800; alternative sources put the number around 30,000. Murdered victim of the political opposition included children. Raisi believed the amputation of hands for thieves (even children) without limit, tight morality laws, and the strictest interpretation of Sharia.

Raisi claimed honor for his role in these mass executions, earning him the title “Butcher of Tehran.” Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennet said of Raisi that he “celebrated the murder of his own people by eating cream cakes.”

When Donald Trump was president, sanctions were imposed on Iran and Raisi was blacklisted over his human rights record of mass executions and violent repression during the Green Movement in 2009. Raisi has been accused of crimes against humanity by international human rights organizations and the United Nations. Trump also pulled out of the Iranian Nuclear Deal, and stepped up crushing economic pressure, cutting off Iranian businesses from international banking. The U.S. State Department has designated Iran as one of the world’s leading sponsors of terrorism since 1979.

A Holocaust denier, Raisi called Israel a false regime and threatened that Israel would be targeted if she made the ‘slightest’ move against Iran. He denounced the Abraham Accords.

Raisi had been a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Under Raisi’s presidential leadership, Iran enriched uranium close to weapons-grade levels while it impedes international inspections. Iran provides weapons to Russia in the war on Ukraine. Iran has proxy armies in Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who are disrupting international shipping in the Red Sea. Iran supports both Hezb’allah and Hamas. Iran promoted militia in Iraq to kill American soldiers. Raisi launched massive drone and ballistic missile attacks on Israel during the Hamas attacks. The first direct Iranian attacks on Israel were under Raisi’s rule.

The in-custody death of Mahsa Amini, (2022) a young woman arrested for not wearing a hijab correctly according to the modesty police, sparked massive women-led demonstrations. When law enforcement was forced out of some cities, Raisi promised to set up an investigation of the murder. More than 22,000 demonstrators were detained and over 500 were killed in the months that followed her death.

Raisi had been traveling with other Iranian government officials, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian (a key figure in the nuclear deal), when his helicopter crashed in the mountains of Iran near Azerbaijan. Fourteen hours after the crash, Mehr News Agency reported that the Supreme Leader declared all on onboard were martyrs. Iranian television has stopped regular programing to show prayers for the martyrs of the crash.

First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber is expected to become the next president. Elections must be held within 50 days, according to the Islamic Republic’s constitution

Dr. Roxane Farmanfarmaian teaches international relations involving the Middle East at the University of Cambridge. She posited that it is interesting that there were two other helicopters travelling in the convoy and they made it back safely. There will be inevitable questions as to whether there was foul play. For conspiracy theorists and those inclined to believe that Israel was responsible, Israel immediately announced that it was not responsible for the crash.

Whether the cause of the crash was the hand of God, the weather, or faulty equipment, there could be geopolitical consequences. Mass protests against the Iranian Shiite theocracy have boiled and bubbled for years. Could this be an optimal time for revolution? 

The writer is an internationally published writer, a former English teacher, stockbroker, and owner/president of a small corporation. She is active with Republican Women, The Lincoln Club, and can be reached at darlenecasella@msn.com

Image: Presidential Executive Office of Russia