Amid controversial international messages of condolences for the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, former US Vice President Mike Pence says “the world is a safer place” without him.

In a post on X on Monday, Pence wrote, “Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is dead and the world is a safer place. Raisi was responsible for the murder of thousands of Iranian political prisoners he ordered executed in 1988, 1,500 Iranians slaughtered in the 2019 protests and the years of terrorist violence sown by Iran across the region that claimed American lives.”

The US government, NATO, the UN Security Council and some European entities and politicians expressed condolences to the Iranian people for Raisi death in a helicopter crash on Sunday, while many Iranians were celebrating the demise of a man they call “The Butcher of Tehran.” Raisi was a member of a “Death Committee” in 1988 that oversaw the summary executions of thousands of political prisoners serving prison terms.

Other Western politicians condemned the expression of sympathy highlighting Raisi life-long role in persecuting dissidents and involvement in thousands of executions.

Pence in his message also said, “My hope and prayer is that Raisi’s death will give the people of Iran a chance to claim their birthright of freedom and end Iran’s long reign of terror.”