Biden admin expresses ‘official condolences’ for death of Iranian president who was dubbed the ‘Butcher of Tehran’

The Biden administration on Monday expressed condolences for the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

Raisi and several Iranian regime officials were killed in a helicopter crash in northern Iran over the weekend. Raisi, known as the “Butcher of Tehran,” oversaw aggressive foreign policies that increased tensions with the West and authoritarian domestic policies to repress and abuse the Iranian population, whom he was deeply unpopular with.

“The United States expresses its official condolences for the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian, and other members of their delegation in a helicopter crash in northwest Iran,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement on Monday. “As Iran selects a new president, we reaffirm our support for the Iranian people and their struggle for human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

“We regret any loss of life. We don’t want to see anyone die in a helicopter crash,” Miller told reporters on Monday.

Raisi was elected to the presidency in 2021 but had spent decades serving in various roles in the Iranian regime. As a prosecutor in 1988, Raisi was on a “death commission” panel responsible for ordering the execution of thousands of Iranian political prisoners, earning him the “Butcher” nickname. Raisi boasted of his role in executing the prisoners and called it “one of the proud achievements” of the Iranian regime, according to Amnesty International.

As president, Raisi oversaw the Iranian regime’s scores of human rights violations against the country’s population, including extrajudicial killings and executions, arbitrary arrest and detention in “life-threatening” prison conditions, torture, kidnapping, repression of political and religious freedoms, and “serious government corruption.” He also participated in cover-ups of government abuses, according to the State Department’s 2023 Reports on Human Rights Practices.

Raisi also promoted the Iranian regime’s foreign policies, including maintaining its role as the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism. Iranian-backed terrorist groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis have launched scores of attacks against U.S., Israeli, and Western forces since Oct. 7, the day Hamas invaded Israel and killed roughly 1,200 people, which was celebrated by Raisi and the Iranian regime, according to Iran International.

“Today’s statement by @StateDept offering “official condolences” after #Iran‘s regime’s president’s death is a symptom of a larger problem. The Biden administration’s Iran policy is adrift,” Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran, said on X on Monday. “It is defined by an extreme and irrational risk aversion. It tries to appease everyone at the same time–the regime included–and shoots itself in the foot time and again.”

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