Iranian President Raisi traveled to New York for the first time in his term to attend the United Nations General Assembly. Raisi left on Monday with his delegation, Iranian news agency Isna reported. Raisi wants to use the trip to put Iran’s image in the right light in the world and to draw attention to the effects of US sanctions, according to a statement from the President’s Office. There is no meeting with President Joe Biden or other US politicians.
The trip will likely be overshadowed by the death of 22-year-old Iranian Mahsa Amini. The young woman fell into a coma in police custody and died on Friday. Since then, the Iranian government has needed explanations: there has also been a lot of dismay and protest internationally.
Arch-conservative Raisi is also on a US sanctions list of people whose assets could be frozen and whose participation in international banking could be made more difficult. According to the finance ministry, Raisi was accused of human rights violations during his time as Attorney General in Tehran. He is also said to be one of the main perpetrators of the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988.
In recent years, there have been repeated tensions with the West over Iran’s nuclear program. Efforts to re-launch the 2015 Vienna nuclear deal – designed to prevent the country from building nuclear bombs – are back on hold after some signs of hope this summer. The United States under Donald Trump left the deal in 2018 and imposed severe sanctions. Since then, Tehran has increasingly sought to find allies in Asia.
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