{"id":331974,"date":"2025-05-25T18:31:48","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T17:31:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=331974"},"modified":"2025-05-25T18:31:48","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T17:31:48","slug":"irans-cult-of-commemoration-what-120000-ceremonies-say-about-a-regime-in-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/ebrahim-raisi\/irans-cult-of-commemoration-what-120000-ceremonies-say-about-a-regime-in-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran\u2019s Cult of Commemoration: What 120,000 Ceremonies Say About a Regime in Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hashtgerd,
Hashtgerd, May 19, 2025 \u2013 First anniversary of Ebrahim Raisi\u2019s death commemorated with speeches and eulogies at Khomeini Prayer Hall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three-minute read<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In late May 2025, Iran\u2019s ruling clerical establishment marked the first anniversary of former regime President Ebrahim Raisi\u2019s death with what state media described as over 120,000 commemorative<\/a> events across the country. The number is staggering\u2014not just for its logistical audacity in a nation mired in economic despair, but for what it reveals: a regime so insecure in its legitimacy that it turns mourning into political theater and turns a controversial president into a national martyr.<\/p>\n

Official messaging\u2014chiefly from the regime\u2019s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei\u2014painted Raisi<\/a> as a humble servant of the people, a devout revolutionary who governed with compassion, integrity, and selflessness. His opposition to direct negotiations with the United States was lauded as proof of unwavering ideological fidelity. His \u201clong hours\u201d and \u201ctireless devotion\u201d were presented as evidence of spiritual superiority. And most critically, his legacy was invoked as emblematic of the clerical dictatorship\u2019s incorruptible strength.<\/p>\n

Yet beneath the eulogies and orchestrated grief, a different narrative persists\u2014one harder to script and harder still to suppress. Raisi was known domestically and internationally less for his compassion than for his role in the 1988 mass executions<\/a> of political prisoners, an episode that earned him the nickname \u201cButcher of Tehran.\u201d His tenure in office coincided with brutal crackdowns during the 2019 protests and the 2022\u201323 nationwide uprisings sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. For many Iranians, Raisi\u2019s name evokes not service but repression. That this reality intruded even into state media coverage\u2014where some officials acknowledged he was dubbed \u201cAyatollah Edaam<\/em><\/a>\u201d (Ayatollah Execution)\u2014speaks to the tension between image-making and truth-telling in today\u2019s Iran.<\/p>\n

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Ebrahim Raisi, a vital member of the \u201cDeath committee\u201d in the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in #Iran<\/a>, is scheduled to speak at the #UNGA<\/a> on September 19. It's crucial to hold him accountable. @CFR_org<\/a>#ProsecuteRaisiNOW<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/P3og0YdvhP<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) September 18, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n