Ireland’s president has sparked fury with a letter addressed to the newly appointed president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, wishing him well and emphasising Iran’s role in the “struggle for peace”.

Masoud Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old cardiac surgeon, was elected after the lowest voter turnout in Iran’s history, with only 40 per cent participation. He succeeded the hardline Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in May.

Irish President Michael Higgins, in his letter to Pezeshkian, offered his congratulations and relayed “my best wishes for the challenges that lie ahead”.

Higgins, who has a history of diplomacy with Iran and supports the Palestinian cause, said, “I regret of course the circumstances that brought about the election, and take the opportunity to repeat the condolences of the people of Ireland for the deaths of your predecessor President Raisi”.

Raisi, nicknamed the “Butcher of Tehran,” was responsible for the mass murder and brutal torture of political dissidents. His victims, numbering in the thousands, included children.

Higgins called his death a “tragic accident”.

Iran's newly-elected President Masoud Pezeshkian (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

The Irish president went on to claim that the Iranian regime had a role to play in bringing peace to the Middle East, extending his “very best wishes for your endeavours, your hopes and all the challenges we face at this difficult time when we struggle for peace.

“Stability and co-operation, and the peaceful resolving of disputes, have never been more important across the whole Middle East region. Iran with its long tradition of culture will play a crucial role in achieving this.”

Higgins said he looked forward to “our two countries continuing to maintain ever-deeper dialogue and co-operation" and went on to celebrate the new Irish embassy in Tehran, set to open in 2025.

But the letter has prompted outrage from pro-Western democrats.

Several X/Twitter users have compared Higgins's words with those of Ireland's president during the Second World War, Douglas Hyde, who offered condolences to Germany's representative in Dublin over the death of Adolf Hitler.

Democracy advocate Mark Dubowitz said the letter was “guaranteed to infuriate anyone who cares about truth, decency and the Iranian people. It may be one of the worst surrenders to evil of any Western leader, ever.”

Israeli journalist, Emily Schrader, said the letter was “truly sickening”.

The director of Stand With Us, Michael Dickson, commented on X: “This is what Ireland’s leadership stands for? Kowtowing to this despotic jihadi terror regime? For shame.”

Anti-regime activists have claimed that the recent presidential election was rigged. Iranian ex-political prisoner Hossein Ronaghi was quoted by Iran International as saying: “The widespread boycott and lack of participation in the Islamic Republic's farcical and fraudulent elections... sends a clear message to both the rulers and the world: the Islamic Republic does not represent Iran and its people.”

In a statement to the JC, the president’s office said: “In accordance with diplomatic protocol when a new Head of State enters office, and in common with many fellow European Heads of State, the European Union and the United Nations, the President issued a letter of good wishes to the incoming President of Iran ahead of his inauguration. In keeping with normal practice, this letter was based on draft material provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs and issued through the normal diplomatic channels. The President’s message stressed the need for all in the region to work for peace.

“This approach was consistent with that taken by the President’s predecessors, Mary McAleese and Mary Robinson, who each also sent such letters to incoming Presidents of Iran during their terms as President.

“Ireland, like all other EU Member States, was represented at the inauguration by our diplomatic mission in Tehran,” the statement concluded.

Higgins’s letter comes after European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell decided to send his deputy Enrique Mora to Pezeshkian’s inauguration.

Several members of the European Parliament expressed anger at the prospective EU presence at Pezeshkian’s swearing-in ceremony.

Polish MEP Adam Bielan said it was “not appropriate” for the EU to be represented “as this would legitimise the Iranian regime”.

Bielan, who is the ECR’s co-ordinator for foreign policy, told Borrell: “This decision is not only misguided but stands in direct contradiction to the values and principles that the European Union purports to uphold.”

Bielan added: “Iran’s persistent support for terrorist activities and destabilising actions across the region poses a direct threat to global security and contradicts the EU’s commitment to democracy and human rights.”

Diplomatic engagement with such a regime at present was “highly inappropriate and dangerous,” he said. “It undermines the integrity of our foreign policy and sends a message of tacit approval to a government that flagrantly violates human rights and international norms.”