The United Nations flag was lowered to half-staff Tuesday in honor of the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash Monday.

Raisi, nicknamed the ‘Butcher of Tehran’ for his oversight of mass executions of political prisoners in 1988, died along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other Iranian officials who were in the helicopter when it crashed in a mountainous region to the country’s northwest. Several U.N. member nations have offered condolences to the Iranian regime – a show of support for the state sponsor of terror that has outraged human rights activists and Iran hawks.

‘One might say this sign of U.N. respect for mass murderers and terrorist executioners is not a surprise,’ said Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, and president of Human Rights Voices.

‘The U.N. Security Council or General Assembly has refused to condemn the terrorist organization Hamas and its October 7th atrocities, orchestrated through Tehran. Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism, but the U.N. has no definition of terrorism because Islamic states claim killing Jews and other targets, including Americans, isn’t terror,’ Bayefsky said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Thousands of miles away from the U.N. headquarters in New York City, mourners in black began to gather Tuesday for days of funerals and processions in Iran to honor the dead. The mass demonstrations will be policed by the Shiite theocracy, with prosecutors already having warned people against any public signs of celebrating his death and a heavy security presence seen on the streets of Tehran since the crash, The Associated Press reported.

Raisi, 63, was seen as a possible successor for Iran’s supreme leader, the 85-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His death now throws that selection into question, particularly as there is no heir-apparent cleric for the presidency ahead of planned June 28 elections.

It is unclear what international presence the funeral in Tehran will draw, as Raisi faced U.S. sanctions for his part in mass executions in 1988 and for abuses targeting protesters and dissidents while leading the country’s judiciary. Iran under Raisi also shipped bomb-carrying drones to Russia to be used in its war on Ukraine.

‘I don’t feel comfortable sending condolences while Iran is sending drones that are used against civilians in Ukraine,’ wrote Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis in an X post. 

United Kingdom Security Minister Tom Tugendhat made similar comments in an X post. ‘President Raisi’s regime has murdered thousands at home, and targeted people here in Britain and across Europe. I will not mourn him,’ he wrote. 

The United Nations on Monday held a moment of silence for Raisi at the request of Russia, China and Algeria representatives. United States Deputy Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood and others stood at the U.N. Security Council for a minute to honor Raisi. The support shown for the Iranian leader has dismayed Bayefsky and others who closely follow the regime’s human rights abuses.

‘The most troubling aspect of now honoring Raisi is that the U.N. operates on a herd mentality and the Biden administration – head of the greatest and most powerful democracy on earth – thinks it is part of the herd,’ Bayefsky told Fox News Digital. 

She called Monday’s moment of silence, ‘A shocking disservice to all the victims of Raisi’s reign of terror and oppression both inside and outside of Iran.’ 

Israeli U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan, who called the moment of silence a ‘disgrace,’ slammed the international body for continuing to honor the ‘mass murdering’ president of Iran by lowering the flag.

‘What will it be tomorrow? Will a U.N. hall be named after him? The U.N.’s moral compass is in the gutter and the organization is an offense to true human rights supporters,’ Erdan said.

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Fox News Digital the honors given to Raisi were an insult to the Iranian people. 

‘The U.N. and the Biden administration should honor the victims of the Iranian regime, not the Butcher of Tehran. Tributes to Raisi are a slap in the face to all those who suffered under his reign,’ Scott said. 

Another committee Republican, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said ‘the worked is better off with Ibrahim Raisi dead.’ 

‘Known as the ‘Butcher of Tehran,’ he was a mass murderer repeatedly sanctioned for his atrocities. He called for murdering Jews and murdering American officials. With this action, the UN has utterly beclowned itself — flying the flag at half-mast to honor a murderous, totalitarian monster is simply disgraceful,’ Cruz said. 

State Department spokesperson Matt Miller addressed the U.S. participation in the moment of silence at an afternoon press briefing. 

Asked if the participation was appropriate, Miller clarified that ‘we have been quite clear that Ebrahim Raisi was a brutal participant in the repression of the Iranian people for nearly four decades.’ 

‘Some of the worst human rights abuses occurred during his tenure as president, especially the human rights abuses against the women and girls of Iran,’ Miller said. ‘That said, we regret any loss of life. We don’t want to see anyone die in a helicopter crash. But that doesn’t change the reality of his record, both as a judge and as the president of Iran.’ 

Fox News’ Bradford Betz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

France, Belgium and other European allies are expressing support for the International Criminal Court amid ongoing demands from the U.S. to drop accusations of war crimes against Israel.

Protestations from the U.S. and Israel began after ICC prosecutor Karim Khan filed applications for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leaders for alleged ‘war crimes.’

‘France supports the International Criminal Court, its independence and the fight against impunity in all situations,’ the nation’s foreign ministry said Monday.

Slovenia also spoke out in support of the ICC, saying ‘accountability is crucial’ in addressing the Israel-Hamas conflict.

‘War crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of Israel and Palestine from at least Oct.7 2023 must be prosecuted independently and impartially regardless of the perpetrators,’ the foreign ministry of Slovenia said in a statement posted Monday to social media. ‘Accountability is crucial to prevent atrocities and to guarantee peace.’

‘Belgium supports the work of the International Criminal Court,’ Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hadja Labib said in a statement posted to social media. ‘The request submitted by the Court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, for arrest warrants against both Hamas and Israeli officials is an important step in the investigation of the situation in Palestine.

Germany expressed hesitation at the accusations placed against Israeli leadership, saying, ‘The simultaneous application for arrest warrants against the Hamas leaders on the one hand and the two Israeli officials on the other has given the false impression of equivalence.’

Khan said his office had collected evidence to give ‘reasonable grounds’ to believe Netanyahu and Gallant ‘bear criminal responsibility for… war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the State of Palestine.’ 

Khan said those alleged crimes include ‘starvation of civilians as a method of warfare’ and ‘intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population.’ 

He said he is also seeking arrest warrants for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, its top political leader Ismail Haniyeh, and its military commander Mohammed Deif. 

The Israeli government has rebuked the ICC’s handling of the situation.

‘I reject with disgust the Hague prosecutor’s comparison between democratic Israel and the mass murderers of Hamas,’ Netanyahu said.

‘It is directed against the IDF soldiers, who are fighting with extraordinary heroism against the vile Hamas murderers who attacked us with terrible cruelty on Oct. 7,’ Netanyahu said in an English-language statement.

Biden publicly backed Israel after the ICC’s announcement, saying the U.S. ‘[rejects] the ICC’s application for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders.’

‘Whatever these warrants may imply, there is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas,’ Biden said. ‘And it’s clear Israel wants to do all it can to ensure civilian protection.’

Fox News’ Bradford Betz and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

The first lady of Syria, Asma al-Assad, has been diagnosed with leukemia, according to the nation’s top officials. 

Asma al-Assad, wife of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has been forced to temporarily withdraw from public life for the time being due to the disease. 

She was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and will ‘adhere to a specialized treatment protocol that includes stringent infection prevention measures,’ according to a statement released by her husband’s office on Tuesday.

Following the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Ama al-Assad became involved in charity work for national interests championed by her husband, who has been accused in France of alleged complicity in war crimes. 

She makes frequent public appearances and hosts meetings with the families of fallen soldiers.

She also accompanied her husband during a diplomatic visit to the United Arab Emirates in 2023. It was her first trip out of the country since the civil war began.

Asma al-Assad is a British citizen born in London to parents of Syrian descent. 

She has been diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses in the past, including breast cancer. She was deemed cancer-free in 2019.

She met her husband, Bashar al-Assad, through family connections. The couple has been married since 2000, when Bashar took office for the presidency.

Prior to their relationship, Asma was employed as an investment banker at J.P. Morgan.

First, some reminders. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has invaded Ukraine twice: When former President Obama was president and again when Joe Biden was president. 

President Obama precipitously withdrew American forces from Iraq in late 2011. ISIS announced itself in 2013 and by 2014 had seized a vast territory in Iraq and Syria.

Donald Trump took office in January of 2017. By December 2017, the ISIS caliphate had lost 95 percent of its territory, including the Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, and the northern Syrian city of Raqqa in northern Syria, which ISIS had named its capital. 

The battle to re-take Mosul began in February 2017 and was complete in July of that year. U.S. forces killed the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in late October, 2019, two weeks after Raqqa was liberated. 

Former President Obama entered into the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (‘JCPOA’) with Iran in July of 2015. Trump withdrew from that deeply flawed agreement in May of 2018 and began the ‘maximum pressure’ campaign against Iran which brought Iran to the brink of bankruptcy by the end of 2020. Following attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq by Iranian proxy forces in Iraq, Trump ordered the assassination of Qasem Soleimani on January 3, 2020. 

The Taliban entered into the Doha Agreement with former President Trump and abided by its terms while Trump remained in office. The Taliban discarded the Doha Agreement soon after President Biden was sworn in. The United States took no actions to enforce its terms. The chaotic American retreat from Afghanistan ended in August of 2021 and was a catastrophe that everyone remembers. 

Former President Obama told Syrian dictator Bashir Assad that using chemical weapons was a ‘red line’ that Assad should not cross.  Assad crossed it and the U.S. did… nothing. 

When Assad twice used chemical weapons against his own people again, President Trump ordered two waves of missile strikes on Syrian facilities and personnel, one in 2017 and one in 2018. 

When Syrian and Russian troops attacked American Special Forces in Syria in 2018, the attacking force was demolished in a fierce battle. The United States forces did not retreat. Deterrence was established. No further attacks by Russian troops on American forces followed. 

Iran and its proxies have been emboldened by the Biden Administration’s desperate attempts to revive the JCPOA. Sanctions on Iran were first waived by Biden on June 10, 2021. Additional waivers followed and Iran refilled its coffers. 

Israel was attacked by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Iran directly attacked Israel on April 13, 2024. In between those dates Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, has repeatedly launched barrages of missiles, rockets and RPGs at Israel from southern Lebanon, and the Houthis —another proxy of Iran— have kept up their missile attacks on Red Sea shipping from their bases in Yemen. Iran’s proxies in Iraq and Syria have repeatedly attacked U.S. forces and Israel, with three American soldiers killed and 40 wounded in Jordan in January. ‘In terms of attribution for the attack, we know this is an [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ]-backed militia,’ Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said at the time. ‘It has the footprints of Kataib Hezbollah.’ Iran is clearly not deterred by Team Biden. 

Putin’s forces are again advancing in Ukraine. China continues to rapidly expand its navy even as ours shrinks. The People’s Liberation Army and Navy continue to threaten Taiwan and the Philippines. 

So that’s a quick review of the record of events on President Trump’s watch and on President Biden’s watch. Clearly, Trump deterred the worst actors in the world and Biden does not. National security does not register high on the list of voters’ concerns in this era of inflation. It will be up to Trump’s campaign to remind voters whether they—and the world—were safer under Trump or Biden.

Hugh Hewitt is host of ‘The Hugh Hewitt Show,’ heard weekday mornings 6am to 9am ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. Hugh wakes up America on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel’s news roundtable hosted by Brett Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990.  Hewitt has frequently appeared on every major national news television network, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American paper, has authored a dozen books and moderated a score of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and his column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years in broadcast, and this column previews the lead story that will drive his radio/ TV show today.