Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-02-12-Speech-4-120"
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"en.20040212.8.4-120"2
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"Mr President, Europe and the United States of America have long been striving to achieve considerable influence over developments in Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. That influence often produces results quite different from those that had been expected. Muslim fundamentalists in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq owed their survival not so long ago to support from the West against others. In Iran, too, attempts were made for a long time to keep allies in power when their position was contested. Fifty years ago, the Mossadeq government was ousted as it was considered that it was too left-wing and that it could conceivably have entered into cooperation with Iran’s neighbours to the north, which were still part of the Soviet Union. An authoritarian ruler, the Shah, returned to power, but he proceeded to make ever more enemies in his own country on account of his lust for power and his neglect of his people. Whilst left-wing nationalism and socialism had no opportunity to constitute an alternative, a medieval variant of Islam was given renewed opportunities to organise popular resistance. Twenty-five years ago, a popular uprising put an end to a regime that had always sought military and economic cooperation with the West.
The outside world has never trusted the new authorities. Following a few years of great enthusiasm, social policy and democratic experiments, this regime, too, incurred hatred within the country. The sizeable younger generation wants an end to the exclusion of politicians whose views differ from those of the conservative clergy, to restrictive rules for women, to the expulsion of students, and to the frequent hanging, stoning or amputation of body parts of those who do not fit into the world view of the authorities. Many people have fled the tyranny, often to Europe. Nevertheless, in recent years, Europe, motivated by economic interests, has been making overtures to this regime. The United States was hesitant, but seemed to be doing the same after Iran suffered the earthquake in Bam and showed readiness to have its nuclear projects inspected. In 2002, a part of the opposition standing up for the rights and freedoms that we take for granted in Europe was placed on a list of terrorist organisations. That increased the confidence of the real authorities in stopping earlier initiatives for democratisation and normalisation. Excluding the most critical candidates reversed the political composition of the parliament from the outset, turning the large majority into a small minority. My group hopes that Europe will learn from this and take the side of the Iranian people and their resistance organisations from now on."@en1
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