Brussels, 29/03/2004 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, the Iranian Foreign Minister spoke to the Irish representative to Teheran to protest at "irresponsible and interventionist" made in Geneva last Thursday before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights by Ireland's representative Mary Whelan, whose country currently holds the Presidency of the EU In the absence of the Irish ambassador, the first secretary Aidan Cronin fielded Iran's official protests.
On Thursday, Mary Whelan told the UN Commission that the EU had seen "few improvements" from Iran in human rights matters, although this is one of the main elements of EU/Iran political dialogue, which is a vital factor in concluding a trade agreement between the parties. Acknowledging that a certain amount of progress had been made, Ms Whelan observed that human rights infringements "continue to be widespread", and described the exclusion of most of the reform candidates for February's elections as "a step backwards for democracy". The Director of the Ministry for Legal and International Affairs, Mohammed Mehdi Akhondzadeh stressed to Aidan Cronin "the progress made by the Islamic Republic in the field of the defence of human rights", referring to women's and minorities' rights, press freedom and free elections. He said that he expected the EU to "take a realistic view of Iranian progress in human rights".