Iranian President Sayyed Ebrahim Raisolsadati, commonly known as Ebrahim Raisi, recently said that the Russia-Ukraine War has been going on for more than a year and a half mainly because of the provocation by the US and its Western allies. Addressing the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in the third week of September 2023, he stressed: “Ukraine is being kept in turmoil by allowing arms dealers to make a profit.”

President Raisi told the UNGA: “The Western world, including the US, thinks that their country is like a manicured garden. And the rest of the world is a jungle kingdom. They want to mould the whole world to their liking. But their efforts will never succeed. The day of America and its Western nations is at hand.” During Raisi’s speech, Gillard Erdan, the representative of Israel to the world body, walked out of the session in protest.

Raisi, a Shiite cleric known as ultra-conservative hardliner, became of President of Iran in 2021. During his tenure, Tehran has strengthened ties with both Moscow and Beijing. Although Raisi, a staunch anti-American, had contested the Presidential Election in 2017, former President Hassan Rouhani defeated him. However, Raisi is considered more powerful than his predecessor because of his closeness with Supreme Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Meanwhile, the Iranian security forces have started to crack down on protests on the first death anniversary of Mahsa Amini (October 8, 2000 – September 16, 2022). It may be noted that anti-hijab protests rocked the West Asian nation after Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, died in a hospital in Tehran on September 16, 2022 under mysterious circumstances. The Morality Police of Iran, strictly abiding by religious dictums, had arrested Amini for allegedly not wearing a hijab in accordance with government standards. The Law Enforcement Command of the country issued a statement, saying that she had a heart attack at a Police Station, collapsed, and fell into a coma before being transferred to a hospital. However, eyewitnesses, including women who were detained with Amini, claimed that she was severely beaten and that she died as a result of Police brutality.

Reports suggest that Mahsa’s family members could not mark their daughter’s first death anniversary because of the crack down. Ahead of the anniversary, the Government of President Raisi strengthened security across the country to avoid any untoward incident. The government deployed a number of security personnel particularly in Kurdish-dominated areas in anticipation of renewed protests on the death anniversary of Mahsa, who was of Kurdish origin.

Mahsa’s father, Amjad Amini, was briefly detained in Saqqez, her hometown. He was later released on the condition that no memorial service be held at his daughter’s grave. However, Iran’s official news agency claimed that Amjad Amini had not been arrested. The agency reported that security forces arrested a bunch of counter-revolutionaries and terrorists across the country, and foiled their plans to trigger an unrest. Meanwhile, anti-government protests took place in various parts of Iran, including the capital city of Tehran, despite foolproof security arrangements.

On September 16, 2023, US President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr issued a statement, saying: “Mahsa ‘Zhina’ Amini’s story did not end with her brutal death. She inspired a historic movement – Woman, Life, Freedom – that has impacted Iran and influenced people across the globe who are tirelessly advocating for Gender Equality and respect for their Human Rights.” On the other hand, President Raisi met the families of the security guards who lost their lives while suppressing the movement on the same day.

There were reports of protest rallies in memory of Mahsa from Washington DC, Berlin and other major cities in the world.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das