Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi spoke before the UN General Assembly for the first time on Wednesday and criticized the West for applying “double standards” to issues of justice and human rights.
He referred to the current event involving an Iranian lady whose death in police custody had caused nationwide demonstrations when he claimed Iran fights for the “globalization of justice.”
In his statement, Raisi cited the widespread media coverage of the incident surrounding the death of the 22-year-old woman and what he called the “deathly silence” regarding the deaths of homeless women in the West as evidence that some Western governments’ double standards have contributed to human rights violations.
Anger-filled demonstrations over the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, who passed away in police custody on Friday after being detained for allegedly breaking the Islamic dress code, have been taking place across Iran at the same time as Raisi’s trip to New York to attend the 77th session of the UN General Assembly.
As the demonstrations intensify, Raisi requested that the interior ministry looks into the tragedy. Many international leaders and human rights organizations, including the United States, have condemned the event, to which Iran’s foreign minister took considerable offense on Tuesday.
Raisi criticized Western nations in his UNGA speech for what he called “violations of human rights and the rights of nations,” especially Canadian indigenous peoples’ rights.
