EU parliament head prepared to lead delegation to Iran

[struggle4progress]

Source: Deutsche Welle

Iranian Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi's appeals to the EU to respond to the violence in her country are bearing fruit: the president of the EU parliament is considering sending an unprecedented delegation to Tehran.

EU Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering said Wednesday that he is prepared to lead a delegation of European deputies to Iran to study allegations of fraud in the recent election that returned hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to another four years in power.

His comments came after meeting Iranian Nobel peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi, who has been campaigning for EU countries and other members of the international community to "express their protest" over Tehran's violent crackdown on opposition demonstrators.

"I will recommend to the European parliament political groups to send a delegation of the European parliament as quickly as possible to Tehran," Poettering said after talks with Ebadi in Brussels.

"I have never done this before but this...is so severe and important that I'm ready to go myself as president of the European parliament to show our solidarity with the people in Iran," he said ...



Read more: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4430613,00.html

[tocqueville]

1. this is a completely stupid move

it's like if the US at the time had sent a delegation to Nazi Germany to ask Mr Hitler if the Jews after the KristallNacht would get any reparations.

the only thing that can hurt the Mullahs is to further isolate them. Pass an international ban to provide Iran with any strategic products and specially refined gasoline they are in shortage of.

that's much more efficient.

[struggle4progress]

2. It's not clear to me. The real flesh and real blood of ordinary people matters, and

it can be protected by transparency and attention. However romantic our notions of unrest may be, it is worth remembering that nothing brings back those who die -- and therefore there is some reason to hope first for peaceful accomodations, even if one recognizes they are not always possible. The international community has at least a humanitarian interest that Iran not collapse into smouldering ruin and should try to encourage modern norms allowing peaceful protest and expression of opinion. The regime may have an internal problem now -- but failure to attend to international opinion could create for it an external problem. One does not want that external problem to be created, without first trying to take advantage of the possibility, that the mere threat of an external problem will moderate the regime's reactions

[tocqueville]

3. its already an external problem nt

[struggle4progress]

4. Well, the UK and Iran have mutually expelled diplomats. The situation with France and Germany

is unclear. Complete loss of diplomatic relations cuts both ways: it isolates Iran but it also limits the ability to attempt to protect people inside the country

The Iranian Ambassador in Bucharest was presented Romania's position
de Anne-Marie Blajan, transl/adapt. C.B. HotNews.ro
Miercuri, 24 iunie 2009, 14:02 English | Top News
The Iranian Ambassador in Bucharest Hamid Reza Arshadi was invited by Romanian Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MAE) to be presented with Romania's position regarding the EU-Iran relationships. EU's Czech Presidency asked the state members for such initiatives, out of solidarity with the European states accused by Iran of involvement in the Teheran social unrest. Iran blamed Great Britain of interfering in the state's inner issues and asked for the diplomatic relations with Germany and France to be reconsidered. Romania pointed out that these accusations were "unacceptable and groundless" ... http://english.hotnews.ro/stiri-top_news-5855989-the-iranian-ambassador-bucharest-was-presented-romanias-position.htm

Canada and Newsweek Seek Release of Reporter Detained in Iran
By IAN AUSTEN
Published: June 23, 2009
OTTAWA — The Canadian government and Newsweek are seeking the release of a reporter for the magazine who has been arrested in Iran ... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/world/middleeast/24canada.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

[ohio2007]

5. So this is merely a "Chamberlain moment" to achieve "peace in our time"

Maybe the mullahs will take the peace committee hostage and demand refined petroleum products to free them.