{"id":2649,"date":"2021-07-05T18:54:02","date_gmt":"2021-07-05T18:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpiran.org\/english\/?p=2649"},"modified":"2026-02-17T21:23:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T21:23:12","slug":"open-letter-in-protest-at-the-austrian-presidents-shameful-message-of-congratulations-to-the-murderous-president-of-the-islamic-regime-of-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpiran.org\/english\/open-letter-in-protest-at-the-austrian-presidents-shameful-message-of-congratulations-to-the-murderous-president-of-the-islamic-regime-of-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"Open letter in protest at the Austrian President\u2019s shameful message of congratulations to the murderous president of the Islamic regime of Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

PDF Version\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

From the Worker-communist Party of Iran \u2013 International Office<\/p>\n

To the Office of the President of Austria<\/p>\n

Hofburg, Ballhausplatz
\n1010 Vienna, Austria<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4 July 2021<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We are writing to express our revulsion and protest at the Austrian President, Mr Alexander Van der Bellen\u2019s message of congratulations to the Islamic Republic\u2019s new president Ebrahim Raisi. We ask that Mr Van der Bellen immediately withdraws his message and apologises to the people of Iran, as well as to the people of Austria, for this disgraceful and unconscionable behaviour.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mr Van der Bellen cannot be unaware that Ebrahim Raisi is a mass murderer<\/a>, responsible for the killing of thousands of people, whether as a member of Tehran\u2019s \u2018death commission\u2019, which carried out the massacre of thousands of political prisoners in the summer of 1988, or in his various roles as prosecutor and head of the judiciary, ordering the imprisonment, torture and execution of hundreds. As the head of the judiciary, Raisi, furthermore, gave immunity to Islamic Republic officials and security forces who carried out the massacre of over 1,500 protesters during the November 2019<\/a> protests against fuel price rises. Also, as a key member of the Iranian regime\u2019s Supreme National Security Council, Raisi took part in the decision to deliberately shoot down the passenger plane, Ukrainian Flight PS752, on 8th<\/sup> January 2020, killing all 176 innocent people onboard.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mr Van der Bellen cannot be unaware either that Ebrahim Raisi was appointed as president not by the vote of the people in a fair and free election but in effect by the leader of the Islamic Republic Khamenei even prior to the holding of this elections circus, which was in any case widely boycotted by the overwhelming majority of the people in Iran. In the absence of the most basic political freedoms, where opposition political activity and parties are not only banned but their activists are thrown in jail or physically eliminated, and where only a handful of the closest and most loyal elements of the regime are handpicked as the list of \u201ccandidates\u201d, any talk of an election is meaningless and absurd in the extreme. Mr Van der Bellen has congratulated as president a mass murderer declared winner in such a process.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Instead of receiving messages of congratulations and being accorded diplomatic recognition and political legitimacy, Ebrahim Raisi and the rest of the leaders of the Islamic Republic should be indicted and prosecuted in fair and open trials – something alien to him and his criminal regime – for their crimes against humanity. Instead of opening up political relations with this regime, this regime should be politically isolated and boycotted internationally<\/a> and thrown out of all world bodies.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This disgraceful action of the President of Austria is a slap in the face of the people of Iran and all those human rights defenders and activists who are standing up to this brutal regime and its crimes on a daily basis. To mitigate the catastrophic political consequences of his action, Mr Van der Bellen must now immediately withdraw his message to Raisi and apologise to the people of Iran and to the people of Austria for this shameful and unconscionable behaviour. Our party and the people of Iran expect nothing less.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kind regards<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bahram Soroush<\/p>\n

Secretary,<\/p>\n

Worker-communist Party of Iran \u2013 International Office<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

International.office@wpiran.org<\/a><\/p>\n

www.wpiran.org\/english<\/a><\/p>\n

Links in this post:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2021\/jun\/30\/iran-president-mass-executions-1980s-ebrahim-raisi<\/p>\n

Iran: Trampling Humanity – Mass arrests, disappearances and torture since Iran\u2019s 2019 November protests<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n