Joseph Borrel Archives - Iran News Daily

Political use of human rights by EU

reporter 1222 — Wed, 11 Dec 2019 06:33:02 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday that the European Union is making political and instrumental use of human rights, noting such an approach is intended to isolate sovereign states.

Seyed Abbas Mousavi’s remarks came on Tuesday in reaction to a statement declared by, the newly-appointed High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

In his statement, which was published on Monday, Borrell claimed that Iran used widespread and disproportionate force against nonviolent protesters.

“Observing the people’s rights is a principle and national security necessity for the Islamic Republic of Iran as a democratic establishment,” Mousavi stressed.

“Iran rejects any instrumental and political use of human rights against independent countries,” he said while voicing his deep sorrow over Borrell’s statement.

“His statement has roots in his incorrect information,” Mousavi said, adding, “Iran’s performance in the last 40 years testifies that the country is resolved to upgrade human rights situation and preserve the people’s rights. Popular protests and holding gatherings are among the inevitable recognized rights of the people in Iran.”

“Misuse of these rights to attack people and loot public properties is not tolerable as such misuses are not bearable in Europe as well. The French police’s crackdown on the protesters in Paris is an obvious example which has thus far left a number of casualties, injured and arrests.”

The Foreign Ministry official called on Borrell to care about the violation of the entire Iranian population by the harshest ever sanctions imposed by the United States, a major ally of Europe.

“We call on the European Union to pay serious attention to the violation of human rights in their allied counties, fulfill their commitments to the JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and prevent violation of the rights of over 80 million Iranians resulting from the U.S. inhuman unilateral sanctions,” Mousavi underscored.

On November 15, the government increased the gasoline price. However, the legitimate public protests against the price increase were directed at sowing chaos through targeted attacks on public and private properties, forcing law enforcement forces to step in to stop saboteurs.

Last week, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution urged relevant state bodies to honor Islamic mercy in regard to those who committed violent acts and caused insecurity in the protests that followed a rise in gas price.

The call by the Leader came in response to a request by Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani on how to deal with those who were killed or wounded in the protests as well as those who acted viciously.

The Leader said those who were killed without being involved in fueling riots should be considered martyrs and their families should receive stipends.

On others (those who instigated riots or committed violent acts under the influence of anti-Islamic Revolution propaganda), the Leader said each group must be treated in a way that is closer to the Islamic mercy.

Shamkhani had prepared a report according to a verdict by the Leader soon after the eruption of protests to realize the root causes and reasons behind the unrest and providing support for the families of the victims.

The Supreme National Security Council’s report had suggested that, within the existing legal framework, those ordinary citizens who were killed during the protests innocently without any destructive role, should be recognized as martyrs and their family should also be subject to services by the Martyrs Foundation.

In the meantime, the report had suggested that those who were killed in the protests in any way should be entitled to receive Diyeh (blood money based on Islamic law) and their family members should also be appeased.

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Preserving JCPOA, responsibility of all; EU says

reporter 1222 — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 04:58:56 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – European Union’s new foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has described preserving the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known as JCPOA, as a “collective responsibility.”

“#JCPOA is crucial for global security & nuclear non-proliferation. We have a collective responsibility to preserve #IranDeal,” Borrell tweeted on Saturday.

Borrell, who also serves as vice-president of the European Commission, further expressed his support for the full implementation of the accord, following the Joint Commission on the implementation of JCPOA, which was held in Vienna on Friday to discuss ways to save the accord, Press TV reported.

The Joint Commission was chaired by Secretary-General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Helga Schmid and attended by representatives from Iran and the five remaining signatories to the landmark nuclear deal – Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China.

Borrell also posted a statement issued after Friday’s meeting in support of the multilateral deal.

In the statement, participants described the JCPOA as a “multilateral achievement and a key element of the global nuclear non-proliferation architecture.”

“All participants emphasized the key importance of full and effective implementation by all sides as well as their determination to pursue all efforts to preserve the agreement,” they said.

They further “strongly encouraged Iran to take all the necessary steps towards full implementation of its nuclear commitments,” stressing “the importance to preserve Iran’s economic benefits derived from the JCPOA.”

Participants also “reiterated their strong support and collective responsibility for the continuation of key nuclear non-proliferation projects that are an essential part of the JCPOA.”

It was the first meeting by the remaining parties to the JCPOA since July. In May 2018, US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled his country out of the international deal, in defiance of global criticism, and later reimposed the sanctions that had been lifted against Tehran as part of the agreement.

In response to the move, Tehran has so far rowed back on its nuclear commitments four times in line with Articles 26 and 36 but stressed that its retaliatory measures will be reversible as soon as Europe finds practical ways to shield mutual trade from the sanctions.

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EU foreign policy chief: nuclear deal must be saved

reporter 1222 — Mon, 02 Dec 2019 06:57:43 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The newly-appointed EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the European Union has the “greatest interest” in the survival of the Iran nuclear deal.

Speaking in an interview with Spain’s El País newspaper published on Sunday, the new EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the bloc has the “greatest interest” in the survival of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“We call on the Iranian authorities to do what they can to keep the pact alive,” he added, stressing that killing the agreement would be a “big mistake”.

His remarks come as the nuclear agreement has long ceased to be economically beneficial to Iran following the US’ unilateral withdrawal from the pact and lack of any practical measures from the European signatories to the deal to secure Iran’s economic interests in the face of US sanctions.

A year after the US’ withdrawal, Iran began taking measures to reduce its commitments to the JCPOA in a bid to create a balance between its rights and obligations and also to encourage the other parties to live up to their own share of commitments to keep the agreement alive.

Meanwhile, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden have recently announced they have become shareholders of the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) – a financial mechanism meant to bypass US sanctions on Tehran.

The six European countries said in their joint statement on Friday that their decision to join INSTEX was in line with “the continuous European support” for the JCPOA.

Borrell had said back in July that his country Spain was also keen on joining the INSTEX.

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