Fireworks are being set off in Iran as security forces are ramping up their presence in Tehran to tamp down on celebrations.
According to reports monitored across many international credible news sources people in Iran are celebrating the death of President Ebrahim Raisi with fireworks,memes and jokes. Late Raisi was a hardline politician who had been touted as a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, died in a helicopter crash near Azerbaijan border on Sunday 19 May.
This was confirmed by the Vice President Mohsen Mansouri , who is in line to succeed him, in a state media broadcast Monday May 20. He was one of the nine casualties of the plane crash on Sunday 19 and search and rescue teams discovered their bodies on Monday 20 after an overnight search in blizzard conditions.
The hardline politician, who had been touted as a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, died in a helicopter crash near the Azerbaijan border on Sunday, state media and Vice President Mohsen Mansouri confirmed.
The Iranian government issued a statement calling Raisi “hard-working and tireless,” saying he “sacrificed his life for the nation.” It also went on to add that there “will not be the slightest disturbance” in the administration.
But some are rejoicing in the death of a man dubbed the “Butcher of Tehran” after his alleged role as one of the judges who oversaw the execution of thousands of political prisoners in the late 1980s following the Iran-Iraq war.
Human Rights Watch previously estimated that between 2,800 and 5,000 prisoners in at least 32 cities were killed.
“Evidence links several past and current senior officials to the executions, including President Ebrahim Raeesi,” a report said.
Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad referenced this when she wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Ebrahim Raisi, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, known to us Iranians as the Butcher of Tehran, is dead! He has been killed in a helicopter crash.”
She has also shared videos of women dancing about his death, many of whom were involved in the “Woman Life Freedom” uprising which saw Iran become embroiled in protests in September 2022.
The regime had ramped up its enforcement of its mandatory dress code, when 22-year-old Jina Mahsa Amini, a woman of Iran’s Kurdish minority, was arrested by “morality” police before she died in custody three days later.
This is what triggered the uprising, which Iranian authorities responded to with great force, including firing live ammunition, metal pellets and tear gas as well as conducting arrests.
Several people have shared photos of Amini in the wake of Raeesi’s death, while others have added “#WomanLifeFreedom” to their general posts about it.
Washington-based activist Sarah Raviani posted a heartbreaking compilation video of several of the people who died in the aftermath of the uprising.
She wrote: “My thoughts are with the countless victims of the Islamic Republic – those whose lives were taken due to the crimes of Ali Khamenei and Ebrahim Raisi.
“Their futures were stolen and many endured untold suffering in their final moments. We will always remember our heroes.”
Several clips show what their sharers say are members of the Iranian diaspora celebrating Raisi’s death outside embassies, including in London.
But others are mourning the death of Raisi, including Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif who has ordered flags to fly at half-mast “mark of respect for President Raisi and his companions and in solidarity with Brotherly Iran”, he said.
Beirut-based journalist Marwa Osman wrote: “We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return.
“It is with great sorrow and sadness that we extend our condolences to the Iranian people, led by His Eminence the Grand Ayatollah, Sayyed Ali Khamenei, may they all endure this great affliction.”
Some anti-Zionists are also lamenting over Raisi’s death, as it was under his reign that Iran has supported Hamas and the Houthis in their fight against Israel, who they see as occupiers of Palestinian land.
One such man, Latin America-based journalist Benjamin Rubinstein, called Raisi “a hero” and said he would “pass into immortality.”
Houthi senior official Mohamed Ali Al-Houthi said: “Our deepest condolences to the Iranian people and the Iranian leadership. The Iranian people will continue to have leaders loyal to their people.”
Similarly, Hamas said: “We are confident that the Islamic Republic of Iran will be able — with the help of Allah — to overcome the consequences of this great loss, as the dear Iranian people have strong institutions capable of dealing with this severe ordeal.”
The nine confirmed dead are:
President Ebrahim Raisi
Foreign Minister Hossein
Amir Abdollahian- Governor of Eastern Azerbaijan province Malek RahmatiTabriz’s Imam Mohammad Ali Alehashem
The Pilot-
The Co-pilot
- Crew Chief
Head of Security - Bodyguard