Iran: Expert says ‘tensions are very high right now’
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US Congresswoman Claudia Tenney penned an angry letter to the bloc’s top foreign diplomat to express concern over its decision to send a senior official to the ceremony. She lamented the decision to celebrate Ebrahim Raisi, a hardliner and notorious executioner, taking power in Iran. Ms Tenney called on Mr Borrell to “uphold the European Union’s human rights principles and stand with the Iranian people rather than honour and empower their corrupt and abusive oppressors”.
The complaint came after a deputy secretary-general from the bloc’s foreign affairs wing attended President Raisi’s inauguration.
Ms Teeny stressed concern because President Raisi “has an abhorrent human rights record and was elected in a sham election”.
She accused the EU of seeking to “legitimise” the election by “sending a senior representative to Raisi’s inauguration”.
The Congresswoman branded the decision “baffling and irresponsible”.
“An institution like the European Union, which purportedly seeks to uphold democratic ideals, should be condemning this election, not legitimising the sham process,” she fumed.
It was also claimed that the bloc’s presence at the ceremony “whitewashes” and “minimises” President Raisi’s “brutal history”.
And it also notes the Iranian regimes role in a “fatal drone strike” on an oil tanker off the coast of Oman.
“These destabilising attacks confirm that the regime lacks the necessary legitimacy and ability to be considered a reliable and trustworthy member of the international community,” Ms Tenny wrote.
“It is disgraceful and extraordinarily disheartening that the European Union continues to tout its support of human rights and democratic principles abroad, yet simultaneously honours a murderer who has killed thousands of his own people and came to power in an election that was neither free nor fair.
“Your actions minimised the Iranian people’s struggle for freedom and legitimised their oppressors.”
She called on the EU to investigate the regime’s crimes and “uphold its moral high ground and human rights principles”.
“The European Union must stand up for its democratic commitments and support the brave Iranian people, who have been oppressed by the Iranian regime for long enough,” she concluded.
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And the letter is gaining support from Ms Tenny’s fellow congressional politicians, including from representatives Scott Perry, Tim Burchett and Stephanie Bice.
President Raisi was sworn into office as Iran’s president on Thursday, two months on from his election victory.
Critics have claimed the the landslide victory was a result of many of the top contenders being blocked from running.
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President Raisi was once a member of the Central Committee of Iran’s “death commissions”.
He has a history of ordering mass executions of opponents of the Iranian regime and is accused of numerous human rights abuses.
These include the execution of thousands of political prisoners, some of whom were pregnant women and teenage girls.
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