US sanctions UN tribute to Iranian president
A US official said the United States will boycott the UN tribute to the Iranian president.
A special session to pay tribute to the President of Iran will be held at the United Nations in New York on Thursday evening, May 30. The 193-member UN General Assembly traditionally holds a session to pay tribute to world leaders who were heads of state at the time of their death, and today's ceremony will feature remarks on Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi.
A US official, who did not wish to be named, while attributing the accusations to Ebrahim Raisi, said: "We will not participate in this event under any circumstances." The US official's words were published even though the United States had not previously reported its boycott of the event.
Ten days ago, during a meeting on May 20, the United Nations Security Council observed a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the helicopter crash that killed Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage. US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood reluctantly stood alongside his 14 other counterparts at the ceremony, and the US State Department officially expressed its condolences on the same day.
