Israeli ambassador kicked out of UNGA after Mahsa Amini stunt during Raisi speech

Israel’s permanent representative to the United Nations was expelled from the UN General Assembly on Tuesday after he interrupted Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s speech.

Gilad Erdan held a banner bearing the image of Mahsa Amini with the words "Iranian Women Deserve Freedom Now" as he walked around the assembly, as Raisi addressed diplomats from the podium.

The Israeli ambassador was then swiftly removed by UN security personnel from the Assembly Hall, before being questioned and escorted from the premises.

In a video shared online, a security officer could be heard asking Erdan to show his ID, which he failed to do as the document remained on his table. Erdan can then be heard protesting his removal, by saying "I didn’t say anything!".

Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, was kicked out from the UN General Assembly and detained by security personnel yesterday for interrupting Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's speech. pic.twitter.com/minBEngDjN

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) September 20, 2023

Reports emerged that Erdan had been detained but the UN later denied this, saying that he was only questioned in a statement given to UK news site The Independent.

Iranian anti-government activists distanced themselves from Erdan's stunt.

Academic Arash Azizi said that the Israeli government "doesn't have a policy of promoting human rights or democracy," pointing to its ongoing occupation and violence in the West Bank and its judicial overhaul.

Azizi told The New Arab that it's "sad" that the only public display of support for Mahsa Amini and Iranians was coming from the likes of the Israeli ambassador. 

"In a better world, some delegations would have left Raisi's speech in protest or use their speeches to mark the anniversary of the [demonstrations]," he added.

Sarah Leah Whitson, the executive director of DAWN, called the Israeli diplomat "genuinely the worst possible advocate for human rights in Iran."

Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman, died in police custody last year after she was accused of flouting the country’s dress codes.

Her death triggered large-scale nationwide protests in Iran, which later led to the detention and killing of hundreds of protesters by government forces.

The Israeli stunt came as Iranians marked the one-year anniversary of Amini's death.

On social media, Erdan went on a tirade against the Iranian leader: "When President Raisi of Iran, the 'Butcher of Tehran,' began his speech, I waved a picture of Mahsa Amini, the innocent Iranian woman who was brutally murdered by the regime one year ago for not wearing a hijab 'properly'," he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"Meanwhile, outside the UN hundreds of Iranians were protesting, begging for help from the international community. I will never stop fighting for the truth and I will always expose the UN’s moral distortions. Those who roll out the red carpet for murderers and antisemites must be held accountable for their actions," he added.

No Iranian official seems to have reacted to Erdan's actions.

Iran cut off relations with Israel and withdrew its recognition following the 1979 Islamic revolution. The two countries have been engaged in a widening proxy conflict since the 1980s.

Tehran has often accused Israel of carrying out sabotage attacks and assassinations near its nuclear sites, while Israel has often blamed Iran for using drones and missiles to attack Israel-linked ships in Gulf waters.