US will boycott Raisi's UN tribute

US to skip UN honor: A source from the US said that the US would not attend Thursday's UN ceremony honoring the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Raisi died earlier this month in a chopper crash.

Every year, the 193-member UN General Assembly gets together to honor any world leader who was in office at the time of their death. At the memorial, people will speak about Raisi.

A US source who spoke anonymously told Reuters, "We won't be there in any way." The US ban has yet to be discussed.

The Iranian representative to the UN in New York refused to say anything.

Raisi was a conservative seen as a possible replacement for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. On May 19, his helicopter crashed in bad weather in the mountains close to the border with Azerbaijan, killing him.

The US source said, "The UN should stand with the people of Iran, not honor the man who has been oppressing them for decades." "Raisi was involved in many horrible violations of human rights, such as the 1988 killings of thousands of political prisoners without a trial."

"Human rights violations, especially against women and girls in Iran, were some of the worst ever seen during his time in office," the source said.

At the start of a meeting that had nothing to do with the crash, the UN Security Council held a moment of silence on May 20 to remember the people who died. It was hard for Robert Wood, the deputy US ambassador to the UN, to stand with his 14 peers.

As of May 20, the State Department said the US sent its "official condolences" for Raisi's death. That same day, John Kirby, a spokesman for national security at the White House, said, "There is no doubt that this man had a lot of blood on his hands."

Some Republican members of Congress were outraged that US President Joe Biden's government sent sympathies to Iran.

Raisi, who is 63 years old, was chosen president in 2021. While in office, he ordered stricter moral laws, led a violent crackdown on anti-government protests, and pushed hard in nuclear talks with other world powers.to Iran's head, Raisi