Criticism Mounts Over EU Representative’s Presence at Raisi’s Inauguration

Criticism over the presence of a European Union representative at the inauguration ceremony of Ibrahim Raisi, the Islamic Republic’s president-elect, continues.

Enrique Mora, Deputy Secretary-General of the European Union’s Foreign Action Service, who entered Tehran to attend Ibrahim Raisi’s inauguration ceremony, met with Iranian Foreign Ministry officials on Wednesday.

According to Iranian media reports, Stephan Klement, EU Ambassador in Vienna, and Bruno Schul, head of the Iran Task Force at the European Union, are accompanying Enrique Mora on this trip.

Joachim Kuhs, a member of the “Alternative for Germany” party in the European Parliament, expressed his anger on Wednesday at Enrique Mora’s presence at Ibrahim Raisi’s inauguration ceremony.

This European Parliament representative emphasized that while Iranian people take to the streets to protest against fundamentalist Islamic rule, Brussels is supporting an oppressive government.

Narges Mohammadi, a human rights activist, also considered on Wednesday this European official’s presence in Tehran as part of the “survival” of Iran’s government.

In a letter addressed to Enrique Mora, Narges Mohammadi referred to Ibrahim Raisi as “one of the most serious violators of human rights over the past forty-two years” and said: “How is it that you can travel to Iran to continue negotiations with Iran’s government and Iran’s government accepts you, but refuses your vaccines for the Iranian people? Because the first is for the government’s survival and the second is for the people’s survival.”

This human rights activist referenced the “killing of protesters” in November 2019 and recent Khuzestan protests in part of her letter and wrote: “I want to speak about the deaths of tens of thousands of men and women, doctors and healthcare workers who are dying helplessly and homeless in homes and hospitals due to lack of widespread vaccination across the world. An unprecedented, cruel and heartbreaking massacre is happening in the homes of my country’s people. There is no bullet, no torture, no prison, but understand, it is silent death in dark rooms and homes filled with terror of Iranians.”

Narges Mohammadi further stated in her letter: “As a human rights activist, I declare that I do not accept and protest against the government’s actions and your actions for the government’s survival and the non-survival of the people.”

The inauguration ceremony of the new president of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be held on Thursday, the 14th of Mordad, in the parliamentary hall.

Maryam Rajavi, a journalist residing in America, has also criticized the presence of the EU representative at Raisi’s inauguration ceremony.

Ms. Rajavi wrote on Twitter: If you Westerners do not stand against someone who is responsible for the massacre, murder and taking hostage of thousands of people, your own citizens’ lives are also at risk.

Iran Human Rights Organization also criticized the participation of foreign delegations in Raisi’s inauguration ceremony in a statement and considered it “turning a blind eye to crimes against humanity.”

Nizam al-Din Mousavi, spokesman for the Parliament’s Presidium, announced that 115 official figures from 73 countries and international organizations, including representatives of the UN Secretary-General and officials from the European Union, will participate in Ibrahim Raisi’s inauguration ceremony.

The presence of the EU representative at Ibrahim Raisi’s inauguration ceremony, who was a member of the “death panel” and one of the main perpetrators of mass executions of political prisoners in 1988, sparked a wave of criticism, and critics have evaluated this action as contradictory to European human rights values.

Amnesty International also announced on Wednesday, on the eve of Ibrahim Raisi’s inauguration ceremony, that he should be subject to criminal investigation for his role in “crimes against humanity” and the 1988 massacre.

Amnesty International emphasized that placing Raisi in the position of presidency instead of subjecting him to criminal investigation represents “a shameful manifestation of the international community’s failure in addressing the crisis of structural impunity in Iran.”

Reza Pahlavi, Iran’s former crown prince, also criticized on the previous day the presence of the EU representative at Ibrahim Raisi’s inauguration ceremony. He described Ibrahim Raisi as a “butcher” and “possibly one of the worst” officials of the Islamic Republic.

Reza Pahlavi, addressing Enrique Mora, said, “It is shocking that in his description, Western democracies, from whom the most was expected, are stabbing the Iranian people in the back.”

Israel also on Monday, with severe criticism of the European Union for sending a representative to Ibrahim Raisi’s inauguration ceremony, asked the union to cancel its decision.

Source: Radio Farda