EU Suspends Ministerial Meetings With Iran, Reuters, April 29

LUXEMBOURG - The European Union on Tuesday suspended ministerial meetings with Iran in response to a German court ruling that cited Iran's rulers for ordering political assassinations.

…"This is confirmation of the EU's condemnation of state inspired acts of terrorism. With this show of solidarity the EU is capable of delivering a coordinated follow-up (to withdrawing its ambassadors from Tehran on April 10)," an EU diplomat said…

A statement said the EU will continue its arms embargo on Iran, will not grant visas to Iranians with intelligence or security functions and will move to exclude all Iranian intelligence personnel from the European Union.

A spokesman for the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which opposes the Tehran government, welcomed the EU stance.…

The National Council, he said, hoped that in the long-term the EU would sever all diplomatic ties with Iran and end the critical dialogue on a permanent basis…

 

"Critical Dialogue" With Iran Dead, Reuter, April 29  

LUXEMBOURG - The European Union's policy of conducting a "critical dialogue" with Iran is "stone dead," a senior EU official said on Tuesday.

The official, who spoke on the condition that he not be named, said that a position taken by EU ministers on Tuesday means that the bloc could only now start up the policy again by unanimous vote, something that was not likely to happen. "It (was) the death knell of the critical dialogue policy," the official said.

 

Massoud Rajavi Welcomes EU Decision, Iran Zamin News Agency, April 29  

The Leader of the Iranian Resistance, Massoud. Rajavi welcomed the European Union's decision, which he described as reflecting the "European conscience" vis-a-vis the policies of appeasement and critical dialogue.

Mr. Rajavi also expressed satisfaction that the EU had invited eastern and central European states to adopt similar positions concerning the Iranian regime.

The Resistance Leader said: "Tehran's state-terrorism must be referred to the UN Security Council, and the files re-opened on the regime's terrorist crimes, including the assassinations of Prof. Kazem Rajavi in Switzerland and Mr. Mohammad Hossein Naghdi in Italy. 

 

Iranian Exiles Demonstrate Support for Economic Ban, Associated Press, April 29

LUXEMBOURG- …Outside the meeting, several thousand Iranian protesters chanted anti-Iranian government slogans today in a protest organized by the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

The EU decision "is a good first step but not enough," said the group's chairman, Mohammad Mohaddessin.

"We certainly regret there is not a single mention of economic sanctions."

 

Iran Resistance Urges Tough EU Stand On Iran, Reuter, April 29

LUXEMBOURG - … The demonstrators, chanting in the drizzle and against the backdrop of a red banner reading "to tolerate terrorism is to encourage it" also called on the EU to sever all diplomatic and trade links with Iran.

"It's nothing but to demand an end to the critical dialogue once and for all," Zohre Akhyani, representative for the National Council of Resistance of Iran in Germany, told Reuters… Akhyani said that sending the EU ambassadors back to Tehran would "simply encourage more terrorism."

 

Mullahs' Parliamentary Committee Urges End To "Critical Dialogue With EU," Agence France Presse, April 29

TEHRAN - The Iranian parliament's foreign affairs' committee called on the government on Tuesday to stop the "critical dialogue" with the European Union unless certain conditions are met…

The committee, … charged that European countries had become a "center of training, financial and political support" for members of armed Iranian opposition groups.

"This is a blatant violation of international law and we ask the EU to arrest and extradite these elements, which use their bases in Iraq for action against our national security," it said.

… The committee also attacked European "double-standards" with respect to human rights, charging that Moslem communities in Europe were mistreated…

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