Ireland’s President Michael Higgins sent a letter to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, earlier this month congratulating him on his new role and expressing his sympathies for the death of former leader Ebrahim Raisi, according to the Jewish Chronicle.
The letter congratulated Pezeshkian on his appointment as president, which came after an election with what is believed could be the lowest voter turnout in the regime’s history.
Pezeshkian was sworn in on Tuesday to chants of ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel.’
Higgins added that he “regret[s] of course the circumstances that brought about this election and take the opportunity to repeat the condolences of the people of Ireland for the deaths of your predecessor President Raidi, former Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian and the others…”
Raisi, also known as the ‘Butcher of Tehran’, died in a helicopter crash in May. He was responsible for the torture and murder of political dissidents. Estimates of the number of deaths caused by Raisi reached 1000s, according to the JC.
The letter went on to say that Iran, which backs terror groups like the Houthis and Hezbollah, will play a “crucial role” in achieving peaceful resolutions in the Middle East.
Iran’s ‘crucial’ role
Outside of backing terror groups harming US interests and attacking Israel, Iran has been accused of targeting Jews, Israelis and dissidents in Europe.
Iran is behind a recent influence campaign aimed at intimidating members of the Israeli delegation to the Paris Olympics, the National Cyber Directorate announced on Thursday after a thorough investigation.
A dissident who was attacked in the UK in May reported that her phone was stolen and the location tracking indicated it was being held at the Iranian embassy. The woman was attacked alongside other dissidents while protesting the regime.
Iran has also been accused of attacking multiple news outlets and reporters based in the West that take a critical stance on the regime.
Reuters and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.
