Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-10-12-Speech-3-077"
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"en.20051012.13.3-077"2
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".
Mr President, today’s debate here in the European Parliament is indeed timely. I know that a number of you follow developments in Iran closely and I look forward to exchanging views with honourable Members in the course of our discussion this afternoon.
I will now turn to human rights, an area in which the United Kingdom Presidency has had cause to be active in the last three months, because of serious and continuing violations. During the first term of office of President Khatami from 1997 to 2001, there emerged a lively free press, a growing civil society and embryonic political parities. Progress was halting but nonetheless real. Regrettably, Iran has lost ground in these areas over the last few years. I hope Iran’s new Government will devote renewed attention to this area.
One of the areas in which Iran is not living up to its international obligations is in the punishment of juvenile offenders. We continue to receive reports of children being sentenced to death and, in some horrendous instances, the sentences appear to have been carried out. Sentencing people to death for crimes committed when under the age of 18 is a clear violation of Iran’s obligations under international law. In January, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child urged Iran to end this practice. It is clearly imperative that it should happen. The European Union has pressed Iran to ensure that no such sentences are passed and to bring in without delay new legislation that will outlaw them.
In recent months freedom of expression has also suffered. Numerous human rights defenders, journalists and web bloggers have been arrested. I know that many honourable Members are equally concerned about these issues. I want, therefore, to mention in particular the inspirational investigative journalist, human rights defender and now prisoner of conscience, Akbar Ganji, who remains in the jail where he has spent much of the last five years. The European Union has called for his release on several occasions and I today hope the Iranian authorities will now consider this as a priority.
We are also concerned about religious freedom: many of Iran’s religious minorities continue to suffer persecution and unfair treatment. We take the view that, by pursuing a policy of diplomatic engagement, we have a better chance of persuading Iran to improve its human rights performance. We constantly monitor Iran’s human rights situation and the Presidency has recently made a number of urgent representations on cases requiring immediate intervention. European Union Member States remain ready to co-sponsor United Nations General Assembly resolutions on the human rights situation in Iran, as appropriate.
The EU-Iran human rights dialogue enables the European Union to work to improve the human rights situation in Iran. We would like to see much greater commitment from Iran to the dialogue and to ensuring that the dialogue results in real progress achieved on the ground. We are frankly disappointed that Iran has not yet agreed dates for the next round and will continue to press it. Iran’s attitude to human rights is damaging its reputation in the international community and I am sure that honourable Members will agree with me when I say that the Iranian Government owes it to its people to make significant progress in this area.
I think we all realise that this is a particularly crucial time for Iran and its new Government. For our part, we remain committed to seeking progress in our areas of concern through a policy of engagement. I know that honourable Members will also continue to maintain a keen interest in human rights, the nuclear dossier and other elements of Iran’s development in the important months and years ahead.
Iran now has a new President and Government. They will need to take important decisions about reform, foreign policy and Iran’s nuclear programme. The choices they will make affect not just Iran’s future in the region, but also some of Europe’s vital interests.
Iran has vast potential: it has a young, well-educated population, two-thirds of whom are under the age of 30. Many Iranians are highly entrepreneurial. Combined with Iran’s immense natural resources – particularly oil and minerals – this should make for a vibrant economy and society if the new government can create a culture of opportunity based upon the rule of law.
Since 1998 the European Union has pursued a policy of engagement with Iran. Our engagement is motivated by our strong desire to encourage progress in areas where Iran’s policies are of serious concern. These include Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, its approach to terrorism and the Middle East peace process, and human rights.
I would like to concentrate on two of those issues today: human rights – because I know this is of great concern to many honourable Members of this Parliament – and the nuclear issue, because it has the potential, if not handled correctly, to overshadow the entirety of Iran’s relationships with the international community, including the European Union.
Let me therefore start with the latter. When Iran’s concealment of crucial elements of its nuclear programme came to light in 2002 and 2003, the normal procedure should have been for the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors to report Iran to the United Nations Security Council. We decided to look for a way forward that would give Iran an opportunity to dispel concerns and prove that the aims of its nuclear programme were entirely peaceful. The IAEA Board agreed to delay a report to the Security Council to give a European initiative a chance. At the heart of this initiative was a proposal that Iran should restore confidence by suspending all uranium enrichment related and reprocessing activities while we discussed mutually acceptable, long-term arrangements.
I should set out that no one – not the European Union nor the wider international community – is trying to prevent Iran from generating electricity by nuclear power, as Iran has sometimes claimed. In the proposals we made to Iran in August, the European side specifically offered support ‘for the development of a safe, economically viable and proliferation-proof civil nuclear power generation and research programme’. Our main objective has always been to get Iran to take the steps necessary to establish confidence that the intentions of its nuclear programme are exclusively peaceful.
As honourable Members are aware, in August Iran decided to resume uranium-conversion activities, which the IAEA Board had asked it to suspend as an essential step. Full suspension of all nuclear fuel cycle activities was also the basis of the agreement made in Paris last November between Iran and the European side, which has provided the framework for our discussion of long-term arrangements.
We have urged Iran to reinstate a full suspension and come back to talks on the basis of the Paris agreement. The European Union has made clear that we are willing to work with Iran and, as part of a long-term agreement, to open the door to closer economic, political and social cooperation. The resolution passed by the IAEA Board of Governors on 24 September makes clear the depth of international concern at Iran’s decision. It remains to be seen how Iran will respond. Iran has an opportunity now to come into line with requests made by the IAEA Board. We hope it will choose that constructive path."@en1
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