Europe (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Some MEPs have demanded that the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell Fontelles, reconsider the decision for the EU to represented at the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Borrell will reportedly send his chief of staff and deputy secretary-general of the European External Action Service, Enrique Mora, to the event in Tehran on July 30.
Pezeshkian won the Islamic Republic’s presidential run-off election earlier this month.
Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old cardiac surgeon known to be relatively moderate, was elected the president on July 6.
The election was called after President Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash in May.
However, the ECR grouping in the EU parliament are angry at the decision for the EU to be represented at the event.
In a letter to Borrell, ECR member Adam Bielan stated that it was not appropriate for the European Union to be represented at the ceremonies in Tehran at the end of July, as this would legitimise the Iranian regime. “This decision is not only misguided but stands in direct contradiction to the values and principles that the European Union purports to uphold,” B
Bielan, AFET Committee Coordinator for the ECR Group, stated in his letter. “We expect a swift and appropriate response to ensure that our foreign policy remains consistent with our shared values and commitments.”
Bielan said:”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.
“Engaging diplomatically with such a regime at this juncture is highly inappropriate and dangerous.
“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.”
He said, “This engagement is particularly problematic during a transitional period for the European Union, where significant actions should be approached with caution and respect for the incoming Commission,” added the MEP.
The ECR says that Mora also represented the European Union at the inauguration ceremony of Ebrahim Raisi as president of Iran in 2019, for which he was criticised by Iranian human rights activists.
No one from the EEAS was immediately available for comment.
