Ahmadinejad’s Tweet About George Floyd is Misguided and Obscene

Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has used the murder of George Floyd, the black American killed by a white police officer in the US city of Minneapolis, to lash out at “world powers” and “disunity,” and express apparent solidarity with the United States’ black population.

Ahmadinejad tweeted in English:

 "The scheme of the world powers is to cause disunity in order to keep all societies under control. The killing of #GeorgeFloyd was deeply disturbing & upsetting & is the result of the current world order which we all must unite against. 

‘Pull the trigger kill a N— he’s a hero.’”

The last line of his tweet features lyrics from the 2Pac song Changes, and was met on Twitter with exclamations of consternation and accusations of hypocrisy, with one person posting a photograph of people being hanged from cranes and the tweet: “Got a rap verse for this?” 

For many, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency is one of the darkest periods in the Islamic Republic’s recent history. Many Iranians will find it bizarre and offensive that he has commented on the racist killing by police in the United States, when people were shot at and killed during protests against Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election in 2009, and when he stayed silent when some of those arrested were raped in prison, actions that were all apparently given the green light by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

Enduring images and memories of that period include that of Neda Agha-Soltan, who had been shot dead by a Basij agent, lying bloody on the ground. The officer was never brought to justice although his guilt was confirmed, and the victim's family was subjected to harassment from government agents. 

Although the crackdown on protesters began at the behest of Ayatollah Khamenei, Ahmadinejad was always regarded as bearing ample responsibility for what happened. Ahmadinejad never spoke out against the crackdown on protesters in 2009, as police in riot gear stormed the rallies and hit the protesters with police vans, driving over them in some cases. 

The death of protesters in Iranian prisons, including the Kahrizak Detention Center in southern Tehran, where people were taken by order of Saeed Mortazavi, the Tehran prosecutor at the time, and the rape and inhumane treatment of them, marked the beginning of Ahmadinejad's second term of presidency.

Today Mortazavi is a symbol of injustice in Iran for the part he played in violently quashing the 2009 protests. At the time, Ahmadinejad praised him and he became head of the Social Security Organization, a wealthy and powerful government agency. Ahmadinejad clashed with parliament when it tried to oust Mortazavi, and Mortazavi remained loyal to Ahmadinejad throughout his presidency.

Ahmadinejad's electoral rivals were placed under house arrest, and they continue to be held captive in their own homes, a move that Ahmadinejad not only stayed silent about, but actively supported.

A few years later, relations between the Supreme Leader and Ahmadinejad soured. Some of his closest allies were implicated in various crimes and faced prison terms. After he finished his time in office, he was barred from running again, all of which prompted him to criticize Sadegh Larijani, then head of the judiciary, as well as figures with close links to the Supreme Leader. He was able to get away with these criticisms and offenses, perhaps proving that he was still respected, or at least tolerated, by the Leader. He could have used this position to support Iranians, and particularly those whose rights had been violated, but he chose not to, sticking with his traditional group of supporters.  

But today, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expressing concern over the killing of an American citizen by police. The police officer accused of killing the man has been arrested and charged, a situation that did not occur in Iran in 2009. People have staged protests across the country, without fear of imprisonment or rape. The US media reports events as they happen. Although there have been tensions, journalists carry out their jobs without fear of reprisals or prosecution.

Until he acknowledges his part in the bloodshed that took place during his presidency, Ahmadinejad’s sympathy with the killing of an American citizen by police is inappropriate, misguided and unacceptable. His refusal to see what has happened in his own country is disgusting, vulgar, and obscene. It will not acquit him in the public conscience. Such behavior is a political stunt, and a blatant attempt to take advantage of a serious criminal act in the United States, without any comprehension of the crimes committed in his own land.