Austrian President and Green Party leader Alexander Van der Belen on Thursday congratulated the new President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ibrahim Raisi. Raisi was previously sanctioned by the United States government for his role in the mass killing of Iranian dissidents in prison and protesters.
Reports about the congratulations appeared in a tweet by Abbas Bagherpour, Iran’s ambassador to Austria, and in an article published by Iranian regime-controlled media.
Bagherpour wrote that “President Van der Bellen, in an official message, warmly congratulated the President-elect Dr. Ibrahim Raisi, wishing him every success, referring to 7 centuries of friendly relations, making him a multi-faceted bilateral relationship in every field. Assured to continue the relationship.”
The media report appeared in the state-controlled Islamic Republic News Agency on Thursday. It said that, “In his message, the Austrian President stated that he is confident that the cordial relations between Tehran and Vienna will continue in all areas. He wished the elected President Raissi success and said that Iran would be ready for multinational negotiations on the nuclear deal. As a host, his country is ready to cooperate.
The IRNA report said van der Bellen “expected that the Vienna talks will bear fruit in the near future.”
Mina Bai, an Iranian-Norwegian columnist and political commentator for the Norwegian newspaper Natavisen, told The Jerusalem Post that “I think it is disgusting that a European president of a democratic country congratulates a man who is a member of thousands of people.” Has been directly involved in the execution. Political prisoners. People like Putin, Xinjiang and Kim Jong have also congratulated Raisi.”
cnxps.cmd.push(function () { cnxps({ playerId: ’36af7c51-0caf-4741-9824-2c941fc6c17b’ }).render(‘4c4d856e0e6f4e3d808bbc1715e132f6’); });
if(window.location.pathname.indexOf(“656089”) != -1){console.log(“hedva connatix”);document.getElementsByClassName(“divConnatix”)[0].style.display = “none”;}
Shame on you, President of Austria, congratulations to a mass murderer who has clawed his way to the presidency of Iran through massive fraud. We are going to remember this blatant cowardice when we rid Iran of this murderous monarchy! Don’t say we didn’t warn you! pic.twitter.com/1fp5gZSIWi— Kaweh Mousavi (@kaweh Mousavi) June 25, 2021
The IRNA report said van der Bellen “expected that the Vienna talks will bear fruit in the near future.”
The post sent Bagherpur a Twitter query, titled “PhD in Public International Law; on the social media platform; Ambassador of IR Iran to Austria and Slovakia”.
Austrian President Alexander van der Belen(Credit: Wikipedia)Austria has a long tradition of strong ties with the Islamic Republic, including sending the first Western Foreign Minister, Social-Democrat Erwin Lanck, to visit Tehran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.
Since Raisey won what the US State Department considered a “beautifully constructed” process, commentators have often described Raisey’s execution spree as a mass murder. “In a distorted parody of democracy, Iran last week elected a mass murderer and extreme extremist, Ibrahim Raisi, as its new president,” wrote Greg Sheridan in The Weeknd Australian.
Raisi played a central role in the execution of at least 5,000 innocent political prisoners in 1988. He was part of a four-member “death committee” that sent dissidents to assassinate him without due process.
Sheena Wojoudy, an Iranian who fled the Islamic Republic due to repression and now lives in Germany, told the Post that “if it is true that Mr Van der Belen congratulated Ibrahim Raisi, it is perhaps worth knowing that Raisi is the judge who presided. During the 1980s mass executions of political prisoners and the death of Naveed Afkari were also under his watch.” Afkari was an Iranian wrestler who was convicted of killing a security guard during the 2018 Iranian protests and was executed in September 2020, despite international outcry.
Wojoudi said that “they have been elected by the leader of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei, because they are alike in brutality. The minimal participation in this presidential election sent an important message to the world’s politicians to show that the regime had lost its legitimacy.” And the Iranian people don’t recognize him as president.”
Iranian-American human rights activist Laudan Bazargan, whose brother Bijan was hanged during the 1988 prison massacre, told the Post: “Khamenei chose Raisi, a member of the ‘death commission’ who was implicated in the 1988 massacre of political prisoners. Long sentences as President of Iran for LGBTQ executions and executions, and protesters, to send a message to the world that the Islamic Republic of Iran does not respect international laws and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Austria has a long history Has been on the side of the Nazis and Hitler. This shocking recognition of the henchman Raisey is another stain on Austrian history.”