UNSC observes silence for Iran President Ebrahim Raisi, Israel ambassador calls it disgrace

NEW DELHI: The United Nations Security Council, including representatives from the United States, paid

tribute

to the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his delegation by observing a

minute of silence

during their Monday meeting. Raisi and other officials lost their lives in a tragic

helicopter accident

.
Mozambique's UN ambassador, Pedro Comissario Afonso, who currently holds the rotating Council presidency for the month of May, requested that the members stand and maintain a moment of silence 'in remembrance of the loss of life in a crash of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ebrahim Raisi' and his team.

However, the gesture was swiftly denounced by Israel's UN representative, Gilad Erdan, who described it as a "disgrace."
In a video message shared on the social media platform X, Erdan expressed his disbelief, stating, "You saw correctly. The

UN Security Council

dedicated a moment of silence in memory of the mass murdering president of Iran, Raisi. What a disgrace."

Erdan, who has been increasingly vocal in his criticism of the United Nations following Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, further added, "The Security Council has become a threat to global peace and security."