Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, on Friday ripped UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres after Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the UN chief expressed condolences over the death of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
“Mr. Secretary-General, do you truly believe it is appropriate to mourn Ali Khamenei, a brutal dictator who ordered the murder, torture, and persecution of tens of thousands of innocent Iranians?" Danon said in a post on social media.
His criticism followed news reports indicating that Iran’s Foreign Ministry said that Guterres spoke with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday and expressed condolences over the death of Khamenei.
The call between Guterres and Araghchi occurred as Iran was preparing to begin a week-long funeral for the former Supreme Leader, who was eliminated in a February 28 joint US-Israeli strike in Iran.
Israeli officials have often clashed with Guterres, who has upped his criticism of Israel since the October 7, 2023 massacre carried out by the Hamas terrorist organization in southern Israel.
Several weeks after October 7, the UN Secretary-General said that the attack on Israel “did not happen in a vacuum" and appeared to blame Israel for the attack.
After his remarks were widely condemned, the UN chief claimed his comments were misinterpreted and that he had indeed condemned Hamas.
In May, following Guterres's decision to include Israeli entities on the blacklist regarding sexual violence in conflict zones, Danon announced the freezing of relations with the UN Secretary-General's Office.
"We are done with this UN Secretary-General. Guterres has put Israel on the same blacklist along with Hamas, ISIS and the most depraved terrorist organizations in the world. This is a moral disgrace that proves that Guterres has lost all credibility," Danon stated at the time.
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)