Madam, – The ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran, like his superiors, brings in the Israeli-Palestinian crisis to divert attention from the Iranian regime’s shocking human rights record. Their motive is simple; there is no justification for the regime’s inhumane behaviour.
I’m an Irish citizen and one of the co-organisers of the protest against the presence of Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki in Dublin.
Most participants at the protest have either been granted refugee status or are Irish/European citizens. We have been campaigning against human rights violations in Iran for the past several years in Ireland, which is irrelevant to anyone’s status in this country but is directly influenced by the critical situation in Iran. The reason for such a high number of Iranian refugees around the world is the widespread and systematic human rights violations, torture, stoning, executions and threats of political dissidents.
The Iranian bodyguards who manhandled our friends acted according to their duties in Iran, where any political protester is suppressed and beaten. It is worth noting that while they were manhandling our friend, one of their agents clearly says in Farsi: “Don’t hit him now, we are being filmed . . .” However, the RTÉ cameras clearly captured the scene which was broadcast around the world.
In a country where freedom of speech is unheard of, it is not uncommon for guards to abduct, torture and even kill opposition.
Film and photos taken of protesters by Iranian agents at the demonstration pose a threat to our families and friends back in Iran. Furthermore, Iran’s track record of assassinating its opponents abroad is on everybody’s mind. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I read the letter of the Iranian ambassador to Ireland (June 16th) with some bemusement. One of the people manhandled by Iranian security guards for the “crime” of protesting was a personal friend, as well as a longstanding member of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC).
Yet it was not that which caused bemusement, as much as the reference the Iranian ambassador made to the Israeli massacre of innocent aid activists in the Mediterranean. While the IPSC had co-operated with many elements of Irish society and were in communication with the Turkish embassy in responding to this massacre, this was the first that I or anyone else involved in Palestinian solidarity had heard from the Iranian embassy about the matter.
It seems its only interest in Israeli crimes was to divert attention from their own crimes.
Genuine solidarity, whether with Palestinians or with Iranians attacked by their own regime, is indivisible. I offer my solidarity and support to those Iranians fighting for justice in their own country, just as they in the past have supported the Palestinian struggle for their own freedom. – Yours, etc,