Letter from Several Republican Senators to US President: Do Not Allow Ibrahim Raisi to Enter American Soil

Several Republican senators sent a letter to Joe Biden, the President of the United States, requesting that he prevent Ibrahim Raisi, the incoming President of Iran, from entering United States soil to participate in the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly in September.

In the letter sent Tuesday evening, Senator Tom Cotton along with a group of other Republican senators, referring to Raisi’s principal role in the “Death Commission” and his human rights record, emphasized the necessity of continuing current sanctions against Raisi and asked the President of the United States not to grant visas to him and other diplomats of the Iranian government.

In addition to Senator Cotton, five other senators – Ted Cruz from Texas, Marco Rubio from Florida, Chuck Grassley from Iowa, Rick Scott from Florida, and Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee – signed the letter. In this letter, referring to the recent failed attempt by Iranian intelligence agents to kidnap Masih Alinejad, an independent journalist and host and commentator for the Voice of America’s Tablet program, they considered Raisi’s trip to “the same city where the Iranian regime had recently attempted to kidnap an American citizen” as legitimizing Raisi’s repression and potentially “endangering American national security.”

Following the announcement of Ibrahim Raisi’s victory in the recent presidential election, Adam Schiff, a Democratic lawmaker and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said that the election results in Iran were predetermined, and Iranians, by not participating in the polls or even by casting blank votes, effectively showed their opinions to the government and said they opposed the current situation.

Jen Psaki, White House Spokesperson, in response to a question about how the United States would interact with Raisi given his human rights record and the fact that he is a sanctioned individual, said: “The new president must henceforth be accountable for human rights violations during his presidency. We strongly call on the Iranian government or those in power to release political prisoners and improve the human rights situation and fundamental freedoms for all Iranians.”

Source: Voice of America