Foreign Ministry Responds to Former Iran Ambassador to Germany’s Statements

Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement in response to sharp criticism from Ali Majedi, the former Iranian ambassador to Germany. The ex-envoy had spoken about the harmful effects of actions by “unilateral actors” outside the country on Iran’s international relations.

Following an interview by Ali Majedi, the former ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Germany, with the ISNA news agency on Wednesday, February 23, 2019, the Public Relations Office of Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement in response to his remarks.

The statement read: “While respecting this retired colleague and appreciating his sincere efforts in various positions, it is necessary to emphasize that the viewpoints presented by him in an interview with ISNA news agency on February 23, 2019, are naturally his personal opinions and do not represent the views of the Foreign Ministry.”

A Controversial Interview

Ali Majedi, 72 years old, stepped down two months earlier from continuing his position as the Islamic Republic of Iran’s ambassador to Berlin due to a law preventing the employment of retirees and returned to Iran.

The former Islamic Republic ambassador to Berlin, in a lengthy interview with Iran’s student news agency “ISNA” published on Wednesday, February 23, had criticized “unilateral” operations outside the country.

Majedi’s reference was to activities that recently took place in several European countries, leading to the arrest of several Iranians, including some diplomats.

The former Iranian ambassador to Germany attributed the conduct of these “operations” to “unilateral” forces and considered these arbitrary actions harmful to Iran.

Majedi criticized the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been unable to win Europe’s trust following America’s withdrawal from the JCPOA and said: “Europeans work with us, but they don’t trust us. We can see what issues have occurred between Iran and the European Union in recent times. I don’t want to recount the issues, but these incidents have caused Europeans to lose trust in Iran.”

Documents of “Unilateral Operations” Outside the Country

The issues that Ali Majedi was unwilling to elaborate on relate to allegations made against Iran by European countries. The latest example is the arrest of someone in the German military on espionage charges. Beyond that, the issue of a bombing plot at a Mujahedin conference in Paris and the arrest of Iranian diplomats in Germany are also considered instances of actions by unilateral actors in Europe.

In this regard, Denmark and the Netherlands last month placed a section of the Islamic Republic’s Ministry of Intelligence on the list of terrorist organizations and entities.

Regarding these terrorist actions, Majedi referred to documents and evidence from European countries and said: “Europeans have produced documents for the claims they have made, and we cannot easily reject them.”

In the Foreign Ministry’s statement about Ali Majedi’s remarks, it is mentioned that the former Islamic Republic ambassador to Germany admitted in his interview that Europeans cannot easily prove these documents either.

In this statement, the Foreign Ministry claimed that terrorist and espionage activities are carried out by “opposing groups” in Europe, and the aim of these actions is to damage Iran’s reputation. This is while the former Islamic Republic ambassador to Germany said:

“We are facing something like ‘unilateral operations’ within the country. Can we deny that similar instances of these events do not occur outside the country? Operations that taint trust.”

Source: DW