Brussels, 20/01/2010 (Agence Europe) - The European Union would like normal relations with Iran and said that talks on the nuclear issue are a part of this process. Whilst underlining the rich and ancient culture of this country, the awareness and vibrancy of its youth, its literature and cinema, Catherine Ashton, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President-designate for the European Commission expressed criticism to the European Parliament of the repression that followed the elections, widely regarded to have been rigged. Ashton said that this concerned Iran itself but pointed out that the failure to respect human rights, the arrests and violence against demonstrators are not acceptable. She also regretted that Iran was refusing to continue talks on the nuclear issue. Ashton said that they still supported a diplomatic solution but Iran's decision to build a nuclear enrichment facility, as well at its hostility to cooperation with the International Energy Agency, was undermining confidence. She also stated that this country had “enormous potential” and could play a positive and significant role in the Middle East.
Her words found a resonance amongst MEPs, who said that they should not back down on respect for human rights (“I insisted on this point a year ago, during my first plenary speech”, commented Spanish Socialist Maria Muniz de Urquiza). She pointed out, however, that they had failed to reach a unanimous decision on sanctions. Some MEPs called for sanctions to be toughened up, such as Bastiaan Belder (EFD, the Netherlands) and Arnaud Danjean (EPP, and France), who consider that these sanctions are both inevitable and desirable. Struan Stevenson from Scotland (ECR) said that they should refuse any appeasement policy. Other parliamentarians think that robust sanctions would provide succour to the regime and called for, as did Austrian Green, Ulrike Lunacek, well-targeted “smart sanctions”. Marco Scurria (EPP, Italy) suggested “cultural sanctions”, such as refusing to celebrate “World Philosophy Day” in Tehran. The refusal to meet the European Parliament delegation, which was due to go to Iran on 8-10 January, also provoked a number of different reactions: some delegates said that they should have cancelled the visit themselves, while others, such as Ms Lunacek, said that they should have gone on the visit to meet members of the opposition and support others. The European Parliament believes that they should listen to and support this opposition. This view was also put forward by German Green, Barbara Lochbihler (President of the EP Delegation), who called for them to follow the example of Spain and Ireland, which are prepared to grant visas without any bureaucratic complications to activists fighting for human rights. Charles Tannock (ECR, United Kingdom) said that the Iranian people and Iranian regime are not the same thing and asserted that they would not abandon the people of the country. Frédérique Ries (ALDE, Belgium) declared that they should help civil society by “simultaneously avoiding escalation and equivocation” and underlined the mistakes committed in Afghanistan. Ries said that they should not forget that the EU had been “unable to defend Massoud” (Ed: assassinated shortly before a meeting with the European Parliament delegation). The majority of MEPs believe that despite everything there is a need for dialogue with Iran, which includes the regime itself, as well as the opposition in exile. Lena Kolarska Bobinska (EPP) pointed out the experience of her country, Poland, where dialogue between the regime and the opposition represented by Solidarnosc, played a key role in the return to democracy. Romanian socialist, George Sabin Cutas, underlined the fact that the Union was Iran's main trading partner and asked whether (taking into account Iran's goal of becoming a WTO member) this fact could be used by the Union as a lever to relaunch dialogue.
Baroness Ashton shares this view but pointed out, rather bitterly, that after six indefatigable years of dialogue carried out by Javier Solana, they had still not achieved any concrete results. She said that they therefore needed to continue down the paths by agreeing to sanctions (which effectively have to be “smart” ones) if Iran continues to refuse any dialogue. Catherine Ashton concluded by paraphrasing Barack Obama's speech after having received the Nobel Prize: no regime is able to go down a new path without having the possibility of a door being opened. (L.G./transl.fl)