UN security personnel on Tuesday arrested Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations shortly after he left the General Assembly chamber to protest a speech by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
It was unclear why he was detained, although he was later released. Fox News Digital has reached out to the UN for comment.
Before leaving the General Assembly Hall, Gilad Erdan held a photo of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian woman who was brutally murdered last year by the country’s so-called morality police for not wearing her hijab properly.
Amini’s assassination sparked waves of protest across the Islamic Republic, which were met with violent repression.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN was arrested by security personnel on Tuesday. (Fox News Digital)
A caption accompanying Erdan’s photo of Amini read: “Iranian women deserve freedom now!”
Raisi’s appearance at the UN General Assembly drew protesters outside the hall.
Erdan, who left the General Assembly Hall with the Israeli delegation, said the UN had reached “a new moral low” by giving way to Raisi, whom he derided as an “evil murderer”.
“While the butcher of Tehran speaks at the UN and is respected by the international community, hundreds of Iranians are protesting outside, shouting and calling on the international community to wake up and help them,” Erdan said in a statement.
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“It is a shame that member states are left to listen to a mass murderer. It should not be possible for a murderer with blood on his hands to be given a platform here at the UN. I left the speech to make it clear that the State of Israel stands by of the Iranian people. I call on the international community to stop the madness and prevent murderers and anti-Semites from coming and speaking here at the UN.”
Raisi’s speech to the UN General Assembly was loaded with shots at the United States, which he blamed for instability in the world.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi holds up the Holy Quran as he addresses the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York, USA, September 19, 2023. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)
“[A]Independent nations are increasingly aligned towards cooperation and convergence, some powers are trying to foment conflicts in different regions using a cold war mentality, they are trying to reconstitute blocs globally,” Raisi said.
“This regressive effort poses a significant threat to the security and well-being of nations. The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly maintains that the formation of a new East-West divide must not be allowed to take shape.”
Former President Trump sanctioned Raishi for his role in the 1988 massacre of 5,000 Iranian political prisoners and the 2019 massacre of 1,500 Iranian protesters by the clerical regime.
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Marta Dhanis and Benjamin Weinthal of Fox News contributed to this report.
