The White House on Monday offered condolences to Iran, but did not offer a heartfelt eulogy for the dead president, Ebrahim Raisi.
"This was a man who had a lot of blood on his hands," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, according to AFP.
However, Kirby added that "as in any other case, we generally regret the loss of life, and therefore offered appropriate official condolences".
The US also clarified that the death does not change the country's general stance on Iran's rule.
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Analysis: The reactions show how divided Iran is
The government sends out images of grieving people, but clips of celebrations are spread online - the contrast shows the division in Iran, says SVT's foreign reporter Gilda Hamidi-Nia.
Raisi was an unpopular president whose career was marked by repression, and after the Mahsa Amini protests he gave more power to the morality police – which means the opposition must be even more careful now, she continues.
“There probably won't be any protests like we saw in 2022 because the security forces are prepared for this. Protesting in Iran is life and death.”
The mixed reactions reflect what a polarizing figure Raisi was, writes Jiyar Gol for the BBC.
The president, staunchly loyal to the architect of the revolution, Ayatollah Khomenei, rose through the ranks through the legal system. In the 80s, as a prosecutor, he played a central role in the execution of 5,000 political prisoners, writes Gol.
"Many of the victims' families now express mixed feelings: although many hated him, they hoped he would be brought before an international court for crimes against humanity."
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