Protesters gather ahead of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's speech to United Nations General Assembly
NEW YORK -- The presence of Iran's leader at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday led to protests in the streets.
The demonstrations coincide with the anniversary of Iran's nationwide uprisings that started last September.
Hundreds gathered at 47th Street and Second Avenue hoping world leaders would hear their cries.
"Raisi is not our president of Iranian people," one woman said.
"He is a murderer. His hands have blood on them," former New Jersey senator Robert Torricelli said.
"The seat of the United Nations that is Iranian seat belongs to the people of Iran, not this mass murderer," said Ramesh Sepehrrad, chair of the Organization of Iranian American Communities advisory board.
They want Iran's president, Ebrahim Raisi, out and held accountable.
"Should not be here at the podium at the U.N., but should be on the criminal docket at the International Court of Justice," former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman said.
"He was directly involved in the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988 and the continued repression of the Iranian people," said Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of the Washington Office National Council of Resistance of Iran.
Elaborate displays of the 1988 executions and photos of those killed during protests over the past few years were set up.
Tuesday was the first anniversary of Iran's nationwide uprisings that started last September following the death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of Iran's morality police. The 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman allegedly violated Iran's mandatory headscarf law.
- Read more: Anti-government protests grow in Iran after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini's death in police custody
"When I think about the laws in Iran and how discriminatory they are, especially against women ... I can't stay silent," immigration attorney Ana Sami said.
"We are supporting the Iranian uprising -- the women, the young, the youth and who just lost their life for this cause," said protester Pari Tarverdian.
She came to New York from Canada, where she now lives after fleeing Iran in the '80s.
"My brother, at age 18, was butchered and executed because of just supporting the opposition in Iran," Tarverdian said.
On Monday, Iran's president was dismissive of western criticism of his country's treatment of women, its nuclear program and crackdown of dissent.
Protesters say they'll continue to speak out.
"We want freedom. We want democracy. We want a republic form of government based on separation of religion and state," Jafarzadeh said.
- CBS News Reports: Who are the U.S. citizens freed from Iran?
President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy also spoke at the gathering of world leaders Tuesday.
On Monday, five U.S. citizens who had been detained by Iran and sentenced to 10 years in prison on unsubstantiated charges of spying were freed.
Experts say it was a high-stakes, complex diplomatic deal. The agreement brokered between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Biden administration included the transfer of $6 billion in unfrozen Iranian oil assets and the release of five Iranian prisoners here in America convicted of nonviolent offenses.
CLICK HERE for a list of street closures for the U.N. General Assembly Gridlock Days.
