Against the background of the Trade and Co-operation...

Against the background of the Trade and Co-operation Agreement to be negotiated with Iran in coming months, the European Union was set to open a political dialogue with Tehran on human rights. During their October 21 meeting in Luxembourg, EU Foreign Ministers sought to lend their support to the shaky reform process now under way in Iran. This initiative is regarded as inadvisable by the Iranian opposition movement, who sought to impress upon the Ministers their objection to any closer ties between the EU and the Iranian regime, which they claim is guilty of torture and other human rights abuses. In order to help speed along this emerging dialogue, the EU Member States stopped short of criticising Iran's poor human rights record, as they tend to do every year within the United Nations forum. The Netherlands, Finland, Ireland and Denmark backed the vote for a UN Resolution on human rights in Iran, but the eight other Member States pointed to the need to help the reform movement in Iran and said it was inadvisable to vote for such a Resolution. The EU wants to lend support to the reform process in Iran and to vote for a Resolution against Iran would merely isolate and discourage the reform movement in the country, according to Louis Michel, the Belgian Foreign Minister. Chris Patten, European Commissioner for External Affairs, said the human rights dialogue could be opened in December in Tehran. The EU Member States were concerned about the human rights situation in Iran, with particular regard to torture, violations of political and civil rights, attacks on freedom of expression and the freedom of association and systematic discrimination against women and minorities. In the Council Conclusions, the Ministers called for a strengthening of the rule of law in Iran and a reform of the legal system. They also reiterated their opposition to the use of the death penalty, and cruel forms of execution, such as stoning.