Iranian Nobel Laureate Slams UN General Assembly Memorial for Raisi

The statement, published on Thursday, claimed that the helicopter was on its designated flight path at the time of the accident and that "no bullet marks or similar damage" were found on the aircraft parts found at the crash site.

The helicopter carrying President Raisi and seven others, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, crashed in heavy fog while crossing mountainous terrain near the border with Azerbaijan last Sunday, resulting in the deaths of all on board.

The report mentioned that the flight's pilot communicated with the two accompanying helicopters "about a minute and a half before the crash" but did not specify the nature of the call. No suspicious activity was allegedly detected in the communications between the control tower and the flight group.

Notably, the report also mentioned that the Iranian public should not pay attention to what he referred to as “unverified and speculative comments”, especially those spread by “foreign media on social media.”

Broadcasting from Iran is controlled by the Islamic Republic and reflects its official ideology. While opinions step out of those bonds online sometimes, the authorities often target and jail those who step out of line with the regime’s narratives, making Iran one of the world's most repressive countries for journalists.

In the immediate aftermath of the crash, state media presented numerous conflicting reports of what happened. That, combined with the apparent disregard for protocols, namely allowing a permit to be issued during a weather amber warning, and Raisi’s profile role as the next potential next Supreme Leader, has raised doubts and mystery around whether this was an accident.

The authorities face intensive scrutiny, including from domestic politicians, and the media inside Iran, who demand clear explanations and transparency regarding the cause of the crash.

Speaking with the Emtedad outlet, Raeisian said Nabavi “has not been able to communicate with his family members for days, so we cannot be certain about his condition."

This news follows Nabavi's open letter two weeks ago, in which he detailed the severe conditions caused by the infestation, including prolonged periods without sleep.

In response to the accusations, the Mizan news agency, which is affiliated with the judiciary, denied the presence of bedbugs in Evin Prison, describing the facility as one of the nation's "cleanest and most orderly prisons."

Human rights groups have long documented a history of severe human rights abuses at the notorious prison in the nation’s capital. Inmates endure beatings, sexual harassment, and deliberate neglect when in need of medical care. The prison suffers from chronic overcrowding and routinely employs solitary confinement.

Last week, Tehran's Taleghani Hospital announced that it would no longer accept dialysis patients from Evin Prison, citing the presence of bed bugs brought in by the inmates.

In a post on X, former political prisoner Mehdi Mahmoudian said that the hospital had sent the head of Evin's medical department a sample canister of bedbugs to substantiate the allegation.

Nabavi, who has long been targeted by authorities, was imprisoned last March for his role in a protest against chemical attacks and serial poisoning of female students across the country. The attacks affected thousands of young students, with hundreds requiring medical attention.

Some Iranians, women and men, posted nude photos of themselves to rejoice in the news.

Using nudity to express joy over Raisi's death is a way to release from a form of "suffocation," said Hanieh Ziaei, a political scientist and associate researcher at the Raoul-Dandurand Chair in Montreal.

"They feel suffocated. So they want to just open everything and it's maybe the expression of this kind of suffocation," said Ziaei.

The call to go nude to celebrate Raisi's death reportedly started off with a tweet by an Iranian social media influencer who allegedly posted to X at the time of Raisi's disappearance that if he is dead she would pose a naked photo.

Iran International is not revealing the account for their safety. It is not known whether she meant it as a joke, a dare or a form of political expression, but it did lead to some Iranians joining the call and going nude. What seemingly started off as a bet, turned into a viral trend.

Given the forced policing of women and even men's bodies in the Islamic Republic, the use of the body to overcome oppression, according to Siavash Rokni, who specializes in subcultures and social movements in social media, fits with the narrative of defying oppression.

Raisi, he said, is the epitome of oppression.

"Nudity and body has always been a taboo. And it has also been an object or something to protest with."

Rokni told Iran International that you don't have to go far back in history to see examples.

"The hippie movement, an anti-war movement in the 1960s and 70s would be an example of it. More recent, the Femen movement that started in Europe and has gone to other countries in North America and Asia, is an example of using nudity as a form of protest movement. The big piece in this whole story is the fact that a body is a form of speech."

Rokni said by going nude, these Iranians started a conversation against patriarchy and against the taboo of body shaming that has been in Iranian society, especially since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, he said.

"Raisi took lives. He was a murderer, but he also suppressed bodies. When people are sharing their bodies, they're literally going against this patriarchy in our society, but they're going specifically against Raisi and the crimes that he committed for the past 40 years," said Rokni.

Raisi, the so-called 'Butcher of Tehran', was one of four judges who sat on a prosecution committee in 1988 that ordered the execution of thousands of political prisoners - some were reportedly as young as 13 years old.

Raisi denied his role in the 1988 massacre, but in 2021, Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard urged an investigation of the President for his alleged "crimes against humanity" while he was head of the judiciary.

The conservative hardline cleric took office in August 2021 and was known for enforcing brutal crackdowns on political opposition, and for policing women's bodies.

A recent UN Fact Finding Mission found various cases of rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence like gang rape and electric shocks to the genitals. It also uncovered the use of AI technology to identify and punish women who didn't follow the country's strict dress code.

Ziaei said "the body is forbidden," in Iran and by going nude, "it's another way to express their frustration."

"The body is becoming a political space," said Ziaei.

However, it could also be used by cyberbots of the Islamic Republic to discredit the Women-Life-Freedom movement, and it wouldn't be the first time an Iranian women's body was used against her, said Ziaei.

By publishing some nude photos, cyberbots, possibly working for the regime, might try to tell more traditionalist Iranians that this is what opposition activists do. If you trust them and follow their lead, your families can also lose their moral compass.

In 2015, actress and human rights activist Golshifteh Farahani posed nude in a French magazine, and received backlash.

Ziaei said that photo can be seen as a "symbolic act."

Rokni said the negative backlash only exposed the patriarchy in Iranian society.

"Iranians obsessed over the fact that Golshifteh Farahani an Iranian, you know, showed a nude photo of herself, which is interesting because it is okay for the French to be nude, but once it's an Iranian, it's different for some reason. So it just shows you how we have a problem with body," said Rokni.

Iranian-Canadian Lily Pourzand, an expert in gender equality, came to Farahani's defense at the time and said she paid a price for it.

"Part of the society feels that they own women's body," said Pourzand.

As a gender equality expert, Pourzand said, she can't comment on whether going nude after the President's death is effective, but she said it does carry much symbolism.

"That act of protest, which should showcase itself in celebration mood, I think it's a message. That's saying no to the governmental ideology and forceful ownership over women's body, over women's life in Iran," she said.

Pourzand said it could be seen as taking back ownership of one's body.

Whether the nude photos posted in the wake of Raisi's death to celebrate his end, were done in fun, a dare or an act of defiance, is not known but what is known, said Rokni, is nudity is a form of resistance to reclaim control in a repressed society that stands for gender apartheid.

"After the revolution, one of the points that really solidified the Islamic Republic was the domination over body. Domination over body of women by putting scarves over their heads, putting hijab over their heads, but also domination of men by asking them not to wear short sleeved shirts," said Rokni.

“[President Ebrahim Raisi] began reopening closed factories, visited deprived areas, and enhanced the status of the Islamic Republic internationally,” Hossein Salami said on Saturday.

On May 19, Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were killed in a helicopter crash near the border of Azerbaijan.

Raisi, who began his tenure as president three years ago, faced significant criticism from observers regarding his economic team, with many calling for a cabinet reshuffle to address the issues. Raisi largely ignored these concerns, consistently asserting that the economy was on a growth trajectory.

In the weeks preceding Raisi's death, the criticism intensified further as many critics within Iran, including politicians, clerics, and academics, consistently voiced concerns about inefficiency, mismanagement, and negligence within his administration.

Among state figures, the former chairman of Iran’s central bank harshly criticized the hardliner government of Raisi for creating three-digit inflation of food prices and the impoverishment of tens of millions of people “while Iran has the biggest combined oil and gas reserves in the world.”

According to some insiders and critics in Iran who are generally permitted to comment publicly, Iran's short-term economic outlook is bleak. Since January, the national currency has devalued further, increasing inflation to around 50 percent.

"We can hear the sound of people's bones breaking," said former Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri, emphasizing the severity of soaring prices. "The government must listen to the people's voices and address their grievances," he said.

One of the highest-ranking clerics in the theocracy, Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, also addressed Raisi on issues such as escalating food costs, declining purchasing power, and volatile exchange rates, asserting that “the government must address these challenges.”

At least eight of these individuals, Amnesty says, are awaiting execution following their involvement in the "Woman Life Freedom" uprising in Iran.

Among them are Fazel Bahramian, Mahmoud Mehrabi, Mamousta Mohammad Khazrnejad, Manouchehr Mehman Navaz, Mehran Bahramian, Mojahed (Abbas) Kourkouri, Reza (Gholamreza) Rasaei and prominent rapper Toomaj Salehi.

In their guilty verdicts, they were accused of "enmity against God" (moharebeh), "corruption on earth" (efsad-e fel arz), and "armed rebellion against the state" (baghi).

"The authorities have severely violated their fair trial rights and subjected many to torture and other ill-treatment, including beatings, electric shocks and sexual violence," the group added.

According to Amnesty International, two additional individuals, Saeed Shirazi and Abolfazl Mehri Hossein Hajilou, were tried on capital charges, and at least five others are under investigation for serious offenses related to the protests.

The death of Mahsa Jina Amini in September 2022 at the hands of the regime’s “morality police” ignited a series of nationwide protests lasting for months, commonly referred to as the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. During this period, authorities reportedly killed at least 550 protesters and detained tens of thousands. The UN has since found Iranian authorities responsible for the physical violence that resulted in Amini's death.

Amnesty International reported last month that 853 people were executed in Iran in 2023, a record number in the last eight years, pointing out that the government uses execution as a tool of political repression and may continue to execute thousands more if the international community does not take action.