– What has diplomacy contributed to after over a hundred days of the revolution? Has it benefited the revolution, or not? That’s what Seher Aydar, who is a parliamentary representative for Rødt, asks. She believes that a revolution is underway in Iran to overthrow the clergy – and that the government’s diplomatic line should align itself with the people of Iran. That is why she is asking for a change of course in Iran policy. – The government must base its policies on the population of Iran – and Iranians across social strata have made it clear that this is an illegitimate regime. Throw out and call home Red will work for the government to bring home its diplomats from Iran. This is revealed in the party’s adopted statements from the national board meeting this month. In addition, party leader Bjørnar Moxnes has sent a written question to the Minister of Justice whether she will take the initiative to expel employees at the Iranian embassy in Norway. The rationale for the proposals to cut diplomatic relations is that diplomacy does not advance the Iranians’ struggle for democracy, Aydar explains. And she gets support from Mohammad Reza Heydari. He previously worked for the Iranian embassy in Norway. In 2009, he resigned his position as consul in protest against gross human rights violations in his home country – and was granted political asylum in Norway. DEFECT: For twenty years, Mohammad Reza Heydari worked as a diplomat for the Islamic clerical government. Now he supports Norwegian-Iranian diplomatic cuts. Photo: news Heydari says that he stands behind all of Rødt’s recently adopted statements. – But the proposals on cutting diplomatic relations and expelling the families of regime actors in Norway are the most important, he believes. – Diplomatic retreat would have given a signal that human rights are important – and that Norway cannot have relations with a regime that does not safeguard these. In the past, Heydari has also said that the Iranian embassy in Oslo is used to spy on Norwegian-Iranians. At the time, Iranian authorities dismissed the statements as unfounded and believed they lacked credibility. – Norway can take the first step It also emerges from Rødt’s adopted statements from the national board meeting that the party will work for sanctions against the clerical regime’s actors, such as the Islamic military force the Revolutionary Guard, and deport their families from Norway. Red also wants sanctions against the Iranian oil and gas industry, because it is important to the country’s economy and affects the authorities’ room for action to finance repressive policies, Aydar explains. – But aren’t joint sanctions with other countries more effective than unilateral sanctions from Norway? – We clearly want several countries to adopt sanctions, and I agree that it is most effective when several countries adopt sanctions together. – But that does not stand in the way of Norway taking the first step for once. However, it is not right for Norway to introduce unilateral sanctions against other countries. Earlier, Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said that there is no authority in the Sanctions Act to do this. And that the UN or the EU must decide on sanctions against Iran so that Norway can do the same. – As the law reads today, this is correct, says law professor Terje Einarsen. – But there is nothing to prevent the Norwegian authorities from introducing unilateral sanctions against the Iranian authorities. It only requires that the Storting adopt an addition to the Sanctions Act or a separate law on unilateral Norwegian sanctions so that the sanctions become legal, he explains. SANCTIONS POLICY: Law professor Terje Einarsen explains what framework the sanctions law sets for Iran policy. The proposal to deport family members of regime actors is still entirely possible already today, the law professor points out. – Deportation based on foreign policy considerations is already authorized in chapter 14 of the Immigration Act. It can be decided directly by the government at the ministry. Against call boycotts The Minister for Foreign Affairs has made the criticism and responds in an e-mail to news. There she points out that the Norwegian authorities have used diplomatic means to distance themselves from the Iranian authorities’ oppression of the population. – We have condemned the execution of people who have participated in the demonstrations, and called on Iran to stop the use of the death penalty and the suppression of fundamental rights, she writes. She adds that the government called the Iranian ambassador to a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where Norway again expressed that the repression is unacceptable and must be stopped. At the same time, Huitfeldt rejects that it is appropriate to cut diplomatic relations. – Summoning Norwegian diplomats gives us fewer opportunities to present our views. It is therefore not applicable. I believe that call boycotts are not an effective tool in the fight for human rights. It is also not appropriate to expel Iranian diplomats in Oslo at this time, she writes. BELIEVE IN DIPLOMACY: The Minister for Foreign Affairs believes that diplomacy is a necessary tool for promoting human rights. Photo: STEFANI REYNOLDS / AFP Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl is also not positive about expelling Iranian diplomats. In her answer to Moxnes’ written question, she acknowledges that the Police Security Service (PST) considers Iran to be an authoritarian state that uses intelligence services to map and monitor people in Norway, but that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs assumes that embassies in Oslo conduct normal diplomatic activities. According to Huitfeldt, independent sanctions are also out of the question. She reminds that Norway regularly follows the UN and the EU when they adopt sanctions for human rights violations. – These are sanctions that have broad international support, that have the greatest basis for legitimacy and the best coercive power to influence a state to change its behaviour. We therefore only join multilateral sanctions regimes, concludes the foreign minister. – Perhaps the greatest human rights struggle of our time But for Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, today’s Iran policy is insufficient. He is a neuroscientist, a long-standing human rights activist – and has received the Amnesty Award for his fight against the death penalty. He now heads the organization Iran Human Rights, which surveys the human rights situation in Iran. In the face of the Islamic regime, he believes that the focus has been on things other than human rights. – So far, the nuclear agreement, economy, security and other matters have received the most attention. Human rights have been something that has been talked about, and resolutions have been issued about it under the auspices of the UN, but it has never been the guiding principle for Iran policy. Now he warns that the human rights situation in Iran has reached a historic low. – The situation is worse than ever. At least 476 protesters have been killed, 64 of them minors. Thousands of protesters are in custody and at least 100 of them are at risk of execution. For many protestors sentenced to death, there has nevertheless been a bright spot from parliaments in the West. Here, many politicians have taken part in a worldwide campaign to become political guardians. It has involved politicians selecting one or more prisoners, and using their political position to work for the prisoners’ freedom, mainly by approaching the Iranian ambassador in their country. Amiry-Moghaddam believes that increases the political cost of executing protesters for the regime – and can help save lives. Storting representative Aydar is himself a political guardian – and encourages other politicians to look through the list of people who are in danger of being executed, and choose a person for whom they will become guardian. – The person I am guardian for, the rapper Saman Yasin, will have to try his case again, she says. – Maybe he is saved.
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– What has diplomacy contributed to? – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
