FILE – In this Friday, June 18, 2021 file photo, Ebrahim Raisi, a candidate in Iran’s presidential elections waves to the media after casting his vote at a polling station in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 10:07 AM PT – Thursday, July 29, 2021
A group of Senate Republicans are warning Joe Biden’s officials against hosting the new Iranian president in Washington D.C. The GOP senators sent a letter to Biden Tuesday night, noting President Ebrahim Raisi led the 1988 “death commission” and actively advanced political repressions against his own people.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ariz.), who is leading the effort, asserted that Raisi is proud of his past atrocities and human rights violations. His comments comes as Biden quietly advances talks to restore the nuclear deal with Iran, which is raising a possibility of direct discussions in Washington. Iranian dissidents, however, agree with the GOP senators.
“Ayatollah Khamenei is deliberately pouring salt on old wounds,” stated dissident Iraj Mesdaghi. “Raisi is a known killer. Even in the 2017 presidential campaign, Rouhani said that killing was all that Raisi has done. So, he’s a known killer.”
JUST IN: U.S. Senators @TomCottonAR & @ChuckGrassley have written to @POTUS this week asking him to deny a visa to #Iran’s incoming President Ebrahim Raisi for travel to New York for the opening of the UN General Assembly. pic.twitter.com/V3E4nJnJmt
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) July 28, 2021
Sen. Cotton pointed out that back in 2019, President Donald Trump put Raisi on the U.S. sanctions list. The senator stressed that the Iranian leader should remain there. The Arizona lawmaker added, Raisi is not welcome on U.S. soil.
