Some MEPs are angry that the EU will be “represented” at the swearing in this week of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian.
European External Action Service political director, Enrique Mora, is due to attend the event in Tehran on Tuesday.
The EEAS insists that the EU is not be represented at political level but merely at a “diplomatic level.”
Pezeshkian won the Islamic Republic’s presidential run-off election earlier this month and will be sworn in at a ceremony on Tuesday.
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.
In a letter to EU High Representive Josep Borrell, ECR member Adam Bielan stated that it was “not appropriate” for the European Union to be represented at the ceremonies in Tehran “as this would legitimise the Iranian regime.”
Bielan said, “This decision is not only misguided but stands in direct contradiction to the values and principles that the European Union purports to uphold.”
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.
On Monday, an EU spokesman told this site, defended the EU position and said “EU relations with Iran are at their lowest level. We have several open issues when it comes to Iran and the EU has adopted several rounds of sanctions in the past two years, especially on human rights violations, and on drones and missiles.
“However, we keep a policy of critical engagement as agreed by the EU Member States in December 2022. Since the EU does not have permanent diplomatic mission in Tehran, the presence at the inauguration – at the lower level – will enable the EU to express its positions directly on the respect of fundamental rights, to request to free all EU citizens and dual nationals detained by Iran, on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, on the need of a ceasefire in Gaza and against further escalation in the region and on the need for Iran to reverse its nuclear escalation.
“The EU will not be represented at political level. Only the EEAS Political Director Enrique Mora, will attend the ceremony at diplomatic level.”
