Last week, we commemorated one year since the brutal murder of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the Iranian regime for not covering her hair “properly.”

Her murder sparked waves of protests across Iran by women fighting for their rights and by those who want to free their country from the mullahs.

These brave protestors, many of whom were killed, served as an inspiration, standing up for their beliefs in the face of a brutal theocracy. 

This past week, inside the halls of the United Nations — an organization founded on the very ashes of the Holocaust and the Second World War — the President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi was given the red-carpet treatment and allowed to address the assembled nations of the world.

Many representatives chose to stay and listen to this murderer known as the “Butcher of Tehran.” 

However, moved by the suffering of the Iranian people, I understood that something must be done to draw the attention of the international community to the atrocities committed by Raisi and his regime.

Iran does not just export terror — it terrorizes its own citizens. 

Israel does not remain in the General Assembly Hall to listen to a man who threatens the only Jewish state with annihilation.

When Raisi began his remarks, I emerged from my seat to exit, silently holding up a photo of Mahsa Amini with the words, “Iranian women deserve freedom now” written next to it.

Suddenly, two officers from the UN security forces grabbed my arms and roughly dragged me from the auditorium.  

I could not believe what was happening.

Here, on the international stage, the president of the ruthless ayatollah regime — who literally called for the destruction of my country, the only democracy in the Middle East — was being allowed to spew his lies, hatred, and antisemitism while I was being detained for silently protesting.

I never imagined that I would be the first UN ambassador detained by UN security. 

Sadly, the UN’s lost moral compass was on full display for all to see.

For decades, Israel had very close relations with Iran.

However, the 1979 revolution entirely changed this dynamic.

Today, the unbridled Iranian quest for nuclear capabilities poses an existential threat to Israel.

In fact, Iran recently kicked out International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors from its nuclear sites and blocked access to camera footage from them.

Furthermore, Iran — the leading state sponsor of terror in the world — supports a web of terror armies across Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza, working to kill as many Israelis as possible. 

However, it is not just Israel that should be concerned by Iran’s bad behavior: Iran poses a serious threat to the entire world.

It vows to kill American government officials and dissident journalists.

Iran’s relentless pursuit of nuclear capabilities is so alarming that the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said this past week that if Iran acquires nuclear capabilities, his nation will be forced to do the same. 

The international community needs to wake up and act quickly before it is too late.

If Iran becomes a nuclear threshold state, its malignant activities across the world will undoubtedly skyrocket.

We must not let this terrible prospect come to fruition. 

I was not trying to be a hero and I certainly was not trying to be detained this past week at the UN.

I was only trying to draw attention to Iran’s numerous human rights violations and the international danger posed by the ayatollahs.

The thousands of supportive messages that I have received from people all over the world, including Iranians, have meant the world to me.

My message to them is simple: The few minutes that I was detained at the UN were a small price to pay on behalf of the innocent Iranians who are imprisoned and murdered each day by the regime. 

My faith is unwavering.

Nothing will prevent me from standing with the Iranian people on the correct side of history now or at any point in the future. Nothing will prevent me from doing what is right. 

The people of Israel stand in solidarity with the people of Iran. 

Ambassador Gilad Erdan is Israel’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations