The Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, was escorted out of the General Assembly Hall this week in protest at the speech of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. During the session, Erdan held up a picture of Mahsa Amini, the young Iranian woman killed in police custody a year ago.

Immediately after he left the hall, UN security personnel stopped Erdan and detained him for a short while.

The ambassador held up a sign saying “Iranian women deserve freedom now’” when Raisi began delivering his speech at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. After leaving the hall, Erdan described the Iranian president as a “mass murderer” and denounced the international community in a post on X for giving the Iranian president a platform.

“I left the hall to make it clear that the State of Israel stands by the Iranian people,” said Erdan, who earlier posted a video of himself standing in a protest held by Iranians in front of the UN headquarters who were carrying pictures of people alleged to have been killed by the Iranian regime.

“While the UN rolls out the red carpet for the Butcher of Tehran, President Raisi, Iranians in New York are here to show the true face of the Ayatollah regime,” Erdan wrote on X. “The leaders in Iran only seek to oppress, starve and murder their own people, while exporting terror and racing toward nuclear weapons. The world must wake up and listen to the voices of innocent Iranians! The Ayatollah regime must be held accountable for their crimes and pay the price!”

OPINION: Justice in apartheid Israel reflects the racist nature of the state