The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, has regretted the current state of relations between the Iranian authorities and the Western community due to the «bloody repression» they are currently exercising inside the country or their support for Russia in the war in Ukraine.
Although Borrell recognizes that the Iranian government has publicly denied the delivery of its drones to Russia in its attacks against Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion, the head of European diplomacy assures that Tehran «is aware» of the «war crimes and attacks against civil infrastructures» that it has blamed on Moscow.
That is why, in his opinion, Iran is making a «huge strategic mistake» by choosing «the wrong path and destroying its credibility by pretending that it is not taking sides in this war», as Borrell has published this Friday in his blog, where he has also acknowledged the «difficult» conversation held this week with the Iranian Foreign Minister, Hosein Amirabdolahian, on this issue, as well as the «unacceptable events» that are taking place in the Islamic republic.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard estimates that more than 300 people have died since the start of the protests, for the death in custody of young Mahsa Amini, a member of the Iranian Kurdish minority. The figure is lower than the one provided by the NGO Iran Human Rights which points to more than 400 deaths due to repression by the security forces while the execution of demonstrators convicted in the framework of the riots has already begun.
«We urge Iran’s leaders to stop the executions of arrested people and the bloody repression of peaceful protesters, and with the delivery of drones and military cooperation with Russia, with which the country supports the illegal war of aggression against Ukraine,» Borrell has made known.
Finally, Borrell has addressed the tough negotiations for the reactivation of the nuclear agreement between Iran and the international community, the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) practically annulled since the unilateral withdrawal of the US and the consequent reimposition of its sanctions against Tehran in 2018.
«I remain of the opinion that, as far as nuclear non-proliferation is concerned, there is no alternative to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and those who think otherwise are fooling themselves,» but he recalled that the reactivation of this agreement does not happen «in a strategic vacuum» and that it is part of a policy change by the Iranian authorities.
«The PAIC is an essential part of a broader perspective: The Islamic republic has to listen to its own citizens, instead of repressing them, and must immediately stop its military support to Russia,» concluded Borrell.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
