Verbatim report of proceedings

Wednesday, 16 November 2005 - Strasbourg

17. Recent statements of the President of Iran, Mr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

  President. – The next item is the Council and Commission statements on the recent statements of the President of Iran, Mr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

  Douglas Alexander, President-in-Office of the Council. Mr President, I am delighted to be able to address the Parliament in this important and timely debate on Iran and I am delighted to be speaking alongside my good friend Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner in this important discussion. During the last debate on this subject in this House on 12 October I used those same words in indicating that discussion on Iran was timely. I now feel that this debate is perhaps even more timely than the debate on 12 October because international concern about Iran’s policies remains high and I believe that Iran is facing crucial choices about its future. It is right, therefore, that the European Union should be active in shaping that debate.

Iran’s decisions about its relations with neighbouring countries can affect the security and prosperity of peoples well beyond the region of the Middle East. It is important for the security of the region and beyond that Iran now makes wise choices.

As all Members of this House will know, Iran elected a new President in June of this year. I believe that the international community, and particularly the European Union, must maintain its dialogue with Iran’s new government. We have a responsibility to encourage those who now hold power to make choices that are in the best interests of that country and the region as a whole. As I said the last time I had the privilege of addressing this Parliament, Iran is a land of genuinely vast potential. It has a young, educated and entrepreneurial population. It has immense natural resources, in particular oil and minerals. I suggested that the combination of these factors should make for a vibrant economy and society in any country if its government can create a culture of opportunity based on the rule of law. Today, more than ever, there is a real need to encourage the growth of such a culture within Iran.

I know that many honourable Members of this House were, as I was, outraged by the recent remarks made by the President of Iran about Israel. These are deeply troubling statements. Moreover, they have been made against the background of mounting concerns about Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, its human rights record and its commitment to countering terrorism.

Let me turn first to those specific comments. As you know, on 26 October, President Ahmadinejad addressed a conference in Tehran on the subject of a world without Zionism. In his speech he is reported to have called for Israel to be wiped from the map and said ‘the Islamic world will not let its historic enemy live within its heartland’. The European Union led the international response which was swift and, I am glad to say, unequivocal.

The Presidency statement issued on behalf of the European Union Heads of Government meeting at Hampton Court on 27 October strongly condemned President Ahmadinejad’s remarks. Josep Borrell said on behalf of this esteemed body that you were ‘deeply shocked, sickened and revolted by this statement’. He spoke of total condemnation by the leaders of your political groups. I know that Hans-Gert Poettering, who will be speaking in a moment, also expressed his concern at these comments at that time.

Today in this debate we are being called upon to discuss these remarks and their implications. Calls for violence and the destruction of any state are manifestly inconsistent with any claim to be a mature and responsible member of the international community. The Presidency summoned Iran’s chargé d’affaires in London to protest at these remarks, and many governments across our Union of 25 nations did likewise in their national capacity. I welcome the swift response from the wider international community, including from governments within the Middle East region itself. Saeb Erekat put it eloquently on behalf of the Palestinian authority when he said he hoped President Ahmadinejad will focus on adding Palestine to the map rather than calling for Israel to be wiped from the map.

Kofi Annan, the United Nations Secretary-General, spoke for the world when he stated that Israel is a long-standing member of the United Nations, with the same rights and obligations as any other. Under the United Nations Charter, Iran, like other members of the organisation, has undertaken to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. I hope that President Ahmadinejad will recognise the damage that these remarks have caused to its standing in the international community and withdraw them unconditionally. His remarks are a further reminder of the imperative for Iran to take steps to address international concerns about its intentions in relation to the nuclear programme.

Iran’s nuclear ambitions were discussed by European Union foreign ministers when we met in Brussels on 7 November. At that meeting the Council reiterated its grave concern at Iran’s resumption of activities at the uranium conversion facility at Isfahan and urged Iran to implement all the measures requested by the International Atomic Energy Agency Board. These include a reinstatement of the full suspension of all fuel cycle activities.

The European Union’s preferred approach remains the resumption of negotiations within the framework agreed in Paris last November. The European Union has urged Iran to take the steps necessary to make this possible. A satisfactory resolution of the issue of Iran’s nuclear ambitions is of fundamental importance to the international community. A nuclear-armed Iran would add greatly to instability in the region and it could do irreparable damage to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the rest of the international non-proliferation system.

Turning to the field of human rights, we continue to be deeply concerned by the serious and continuing violations by Iran. We continue to hear reports of juvenile offenders being sentenced to death. Iran continues to restrict freedom of expression and to imprison political prisoners, such as the investigative journalist, Akbar Ganji. Iran continues to persecute religious minorities, including the Baha’i Community.

I know from our last debate on this issue that this is a matter of ongoing and profound concern to many Members of this Parliament. We therefore urge Iran to strengthen respect for human rights and the rule of law. It is disappointing that the EU-Iran human rights dialogue has not been held since June 2004, despite repeated attempts – I can assure you – on the European Union’s part to agree dates for the next round. It is important that Iran take steps to resume substantive discussions under the dialogue.

I welcome the resolution on human rights that Canada tabled last week at the United Nations General Assembly. European Union Member States have agreed to co-sponsor it. Iran must demonstrate by its actions that it is willing to improve respect for human rights. Iran can begin to do this by fulfilling its obligations and earlier commitments in relation to juvenile executions and by permanently releasing prisoners of conscience. I hope that Iran’s government does this without delay.

Turning now to terrorism, the Council remains concerned by Iran’s approach to terrorism. The fact that President Ahmadinejad’s comments were made on the same day as the horrific attack at Hadera in Israel, for which Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility, should reinforce for us all the lesson that incitement to violence and the terrorism that it breeds are despicable and unacceptable acts. The European Union has encouraged Iran to join, without reservation, the international consensus on the necessary existence of two states – Palestine and Israel – living peacefully side by side within recognised borders. The European Union stresses that support for Palestinian terrorist groups is unacceptable. All states have a responsibility to work together to combat the threat of international terrorism.

I believe that this is genuinely a crucial time for Iran and for its government. The recent remarks by President Ahmadinejad have focused attention upon Iran and its position in the world. It is imperative that this attention be channelled constructively into effective influence on Iran to address its policies on the nuclear issue, terrorism, human rights and regional and other questions, including the Middle East peace process.

The international community can have most influence when it is united. I believe our united response to President Ahmadinejad’s remarks about Israel has been successful in putting Iranian policy on this issue directly under the spotlight. As foreign ministers of the European Union said on 7 November, the evolution of the long-term relationship between Iran and Europe must depend on action by Iran to address effectively all the European Union’s areas of concern. It is up to Iran to determine through its actions whether its long-term relationship with the European Union will improve or deteriorate.

  Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Member of the Commission. Mr President, even though I am repeating something that has already been said, I would like to do so because I think the matter is so serious that it is necessary to do so. There was indeed a very broad and very speedy reaction from all the different European institutions. President Barroso reacted immediately on behalf of the European Commission by issuing a very firm condemnation in the clearest possible terms. We know that the President of the European Parliament has also condemned this statement very forcefully and, as Mr Alexander has already said, the European Council also issued a very strong declaration from Hampton Court.

I also reiterated in public that Mr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s statement on Israel was shocking and completely unacceptable. It has also rightly been condemned in the strongest terms across the international community. I would also like to thank the Presidency for having associated our heads of delegations in statements made by the Presidency, together with the Commission, especially in the Arab countries. The Foreign Ministers further reiterated this collective condemnation of calls for violence and for the destruction of any state. They also concurred in the fact that ‘such comments cause concern about Iran’s role in the region and its future intentions’.

There is a long, very ugly string of precedents at political rallies, military parades and other events, going all the way back to the early years of the revolution. But when they are made in the current delicate climate, and especially by the Head of State himself in connection with a conference entitled ‘The World without Zionism’, I think it really is time to draw a red line and to remind the Iranian President of the responsibilities that come with being a member of the family of nations.

On the most burning issue, the nuclear track, we still believe that engagement is far preferable to brinkmanship, confrontation and isolation. We therefore support the efforts by the British Presidency, France, Germany, Mr Javier Solana and like-minded partners to bring Iran to a fuller cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and Dr El Baradei

In this regard the next meeting of the board of the IAEA will be crucial. Clearly we all want to avoid Iran becoming a nuclear weapons state. But this is not the only area where we would expect the Iranian Government to deliver. Iran’s attitude towards the Middle East peace process in particular is very important. Since the launch of our EU-Iran comprehensive dialogue, the successor of the critical dialogue, that has been identified as one of the major issues of concern, along with weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and human rights.

During Mr Khatami’s presidency, we used this channel of engagement to good effect. Even though Iran did not officially acknowledge the existence of Israel, we registered some positive signs and a better appreciation of the whole Middle East equation. In particular, it was stated that Iran would not obstruct the peace process and would not pretend to be ‘more Palestinian than the Palestinians’.

But the intemperate remarks by President Ahmadinejad came as a setback. Among the many condemnations it triggered, I was particularly pleased to note also that the Palestinian Authority representative, the chief Palestinian negotiator, Mr Saeb Erekat, displayed real statesmanship by recalling that the PLO and the Palestinian Authority had recognised the State of Israel, with which they pursued a peace process. Thunderous neo-revolutionary warnings by the Iranian leadership to other Muslim countries not to recognise Israel seem curiously out of step with the modern world and may very well backfire.

Over the past months, the EU has invited Iran to reactivate our tracks of dialogue, by holding sessions of both the comprehensive dialogue and the human rights dialogue. I strongly hope that Iran will recommit itself to these processes and seize the opportunity to clarify its position, dispel misunderstandings and start restoring an overall confidence that has been badly damaged by recent remarks.

Although today is not the occasion, one could speak at length about human rights and the positive expectations that were initially created during the first years of Mr Khatami’s presidency, and then about the subsequent negative trend that has regrettably cemented itself. Improvements are indeed badly needed and the European Union obviously cannot remain silent on the matter.

I believe that we should try to build bridges with the Iranian people and I prefer to think that not all Iranians identify with the remarks and the line taken by their leaders. Freedom of expression and association in Iran are eroding. We should continue to monitor closely, for instance, the treatment of individual cases, such as that of Mr Akbar Ganji.

But as the Council clearly stated last week, ‘the evolution of the long-term relationship, avoiding a deterioration between Iran and Europe, will depend on action by Iran to address effectively all of the EU’s areas of concern’. That includes Iran’s attitude towards the Middle East peace process. The ball is now in the Iranian Government’s court. As a basic prerequisite we expect the Iranian Government to exercise responsible leadership, both domestically and internationally. Iran has remarkable historical, cultural and geo-political assets, as well as immense natural and human resources. This entails special responsibilities in order to foster peace and stability within a particularly volatile neighbourhood.

IN THE CHAIR: MR DOS SANTOS
Vice-President

  Hans-Gert Poettering, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group. – (DE) Mr President, Commissioner, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, our group has asked for this debate, and I would like to express my warm thanks to the other groups for having agreed to it without further ado.

What President Ahmadinejad of Iran said on 26 October about wiping Israel off the map is so monstrous that it must be condemned in the strongest terms. We know that the Ayatollah Khomeini, who led the Iranian revolution, took a similar line, but we are now all the more grateful to the former President Khatami for distancing himself from it.

To Israel – of which I have been critical on several occasions in this House – we say that, when something touches, as this does, in such a way on the security, stability, and integrity of Israel, then Israel enjoys our unconditional support, and that any and every attack upon Israel or attempt at destabilising it amounts to an attempt at jeopardising Western civilisation and constitutes a declaration of war upon Europe and the world at large. Of that, the Iranian Government must be made aware.

I find this development in Iran so very disappointing precisely because I was spending a whole week in Iran at the time that Ahmadinejad took office, and I was still under the illusion that not everything would turn out to be quite so bad as it looked. It is, however, precisely because things have turned out so badly that those who, with a great deal of goodwill, wanted to give the new government a chance must, today, say loud and clear: ‘nip this in the bud!’ – and that is the position we must adopt.

The tragic thing is that this behaviour on the part of what one must call the new Iranian regime does nothing to help those whom it is intended to help, namely the Palestinians. It is not only the Israelis who have a right to live within secure borders; we in the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats have always acknowledged the right of the Palestinians to do so as well. What the President of Iran is doing puts the Middle East peace process as a whole at risk, and that is bad news not only for Israel, but also for the dignity of the Palestinian people.

Following our criticisms of Ahmadinejad, I saw on German television demonstrations in Teheran, with men wearing suicide belts, something that in itself constitutes an incitement to terrorism. While in Iran, I saw a magazine in which young people were called on to sign up as suicide bombers or freedom fighters – you can call them what you like, but that is still an incitement to terrorism. I was told yesterday that Iranian children’s television programmes were showing Palestinian children wearing these suicide belts, so to speak, setting Iranian children an example and encouraging them to volunteer for these sorts of suicide missions. Yesterday, too, a British colleague told me that two people had been hanged in Iran as a punishment for homosexual relations. All this shows that what we are dealing with here is a reversion to the worst of the Middle Ages, and we must get the Iranian leadership to see the error of their ways.

Both the President-in-Office of the Council and Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner mentioned the civil nuclear programme. That is something to which Iran is, of course, entitled, but it does not enjoy our trust, and we can be virtually certain that the development of civil nuclear power will one day lead to its being used for nuclear weapons, which we, as a European and global civilisation, cannot allow to be placed in the hands of people whose outlook can be regarded as medieval.

This morning, I urged the Russian Government, through one of its representatives, to do everything in its power – for it enjoys a degree of influence on Iran – to bring about, at last, transparency in all these questions touching on nuclear energy; the Commissioner and the President-in-Office of the Council have made similar demands.

We must be very vigilant where Iran is concerned. Iran must itself be aware that it is throwing away its chance of playing a major geographical and strategic role. Iran has a major role to play in the peace process in Afghanistan, the peace process in Iraq, in relations with Syria, Israel, Lebanon, and Palestine. The Iranians are a great people, many of whom took no part in the election because they feared the worst and could not prevent it. There are people of good will in Iran, and we should not forget them. Iran needs a good future, and it is to be hoped that its President will come to realise that he needs to adopt a civilised approach in his dealings with both people and states around the world.

  Pasqualina Napoletano, on behalf of the PSE Group. – (IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we too endorsed the need to hold this debate, because we want the serious remarks made by the Iranian President, Mr Ahmadinejad, regarding the existence of the State of Israel to be met with a firm, unanimous response from the European Parliament.

The Socialist Group in the European Parliament believes that the seriousness of what has happened should not be underestimated, since those words were uttered at an extremely sensitive moment in the Middle East situation. The truth is that fortunately, within days, we heard the statements by the former leader Mr Khatami, which ran in a completely different direction. In fact, he came out against any kind of crusade, war or violence, declaring them immoral.

Returning to the Middle East, on the one hand hopes have been raised again for a peace process that will lead to the emergence of the Palestinian State alongside the State of Israel, a solution that for us has never been and will never be an issue. On the other hand, however, we realise that this process has many enemies and that terrorism is in fact backing those who do not want a solution to this tragic situation.

Peace, democracy, freedom and social justice are the values that we want to prevail in the Middle East, and we want Europe to play an ever greater role in making that happen. We therefore welcome the fact that the European Union has accepted responsibility for controlling the border at Rafah, which we hope may soon become one of the borders of the Palestinian State.

Iran is a great country and we do not want it to isolate itself from the international community. Quite the opposite: we believe that the decisions it makes, starting with a clear and incontrovertible rejection of nuclear weapons, can help bring about peaceful stability throughout the region.

Israel and Palestine are linked by a single destiny and wiping out Israel would mean wiping out Palestine. I say that because it is time to unmask those who help to maintain the Palestinians’ tragic situation by pretending to uphold their rights. Unlike President Ahmadinejad, we shall strive to add a new state to the map of the Middle East.

Lastly, let us assure Israel that Europe cannot forget the Holocaust, because that would mean denying the very reasons for its existence as a political project.

  Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck, on behalf of the ALDE Group. – (NL) Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I will echo some of what my fellow Members have been saying before me, but I think it is important to show that all groups in this House are unanimous in their condemnation of recent events in Iran. Iran is a cradle of civilisation and has made an invaluable contribution to mankind’s cultural, artistic, religious, intellectual and scientific heritage. When Iran became an Islamic republic, it was isolated for decades. The European Union has taken the lead in bringing this isolation to an end, and a comprehensive debate has been set in motion about such things as economic relations, international cooperation and human rights.

Since President Ahmadinejad took up office, however, there has been a clear and perceptible setback in the shape of the sentencing of juveniles to death, renewed persecutions of journalists and human rights activists and the recall of 40 ambassadors. Recent statements by the President – who has congratulated suicide terrorists and said that Israel must be wiped off the map – are completely at odds with the Charter of the United Nations, are deserving of condemnation and are wholly unacceptable not only politically and in terms of international law, but also, and above all, from a humanitarian and moral point of view.

Israel’s right of existence within internationally recognised borders and in safety alongside a viable Palestinian state is not a matter of dispute. Iran would do well to contribute to a solution in the Middle East and to stop supporting international terrorism. The latest statements by its President threaten to plunge Iran, which is indeed a big country, back into isolation and, in any case, prevent it from playing a leading role in its region.

  Angelika Beer, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – (DE) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, my group, that of the Greens, is also glad that we will be adopting a unanimous resolution whereby the European Parliament will make clear that anyone – whether an organisation or a state is immaterial – who questions the right of Israel to exist or preaches hatred of it will find no acceptance in this House, and that such attitudes are firmly rejected.

The Commission and the Council, too, have spelled out the serious problems that we face. President Ahmadinejad’s speeches make it clear that we Europeans can do nothing to stop a hatemonger mobilising thousands of people the length and breadth of his country; that is not our task, neither is it our field of activity, but I do nonetheless appeal to those in power in Iran to consider whether they might play a positive role in the international community by giving their backing to the right of both Palestine and Israel to exist, rather than allowing their President to make their rich country an international pariah.

Hence my appeal to the people of Europe and to this House: we must draw distinctions. Iran is a fascinating country with a young and well-educated society. There are also, in Iranian society, active women’s organisations that fight for women’s rights. Iran is also represented by such a man as Akbar Gandji, whose life is at risk because he refuses to submit to censorship. Iran is also a society full of webloggers and journalists attempting to remain in contact with us and to reveal the truth about their country’s regime. Iran is also the Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, who has addressed this House. Iran is also the lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani, whom we once invited to this House and who is now in jail.

It is to this other Iran, then, that we should try to stretch out a hand. We should not make the mistake of breaking off contacts with its civil society now, of shutting the door on it. That is precisely what people like President Ahmadinejad want us to do, and that is why we must not do it.

We have committed ourselves to human rights, to peace and to the peaceful resolution of conflicts. That is our way. That is only the dialogue ...

(The President cut off the speaker)

  Eva-Britt Svensson, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group. – (SV) Mr President, the Iranian regime prevents any opposition within the country. It violates human rights and barbarically sentences people to death by hanging etc. A long list of the regime’s crimes can be drawn up, but such crimes are clearly not enough for this regime. Now, the Iranian President has made terrible statements about another state. He has talked about annihilating the State of Israel. His doing so is, of course, completely unacceptable and must be condemned by everyone. I assume that we are a unified Parliament that supports the condemnations both of this statement and of the Iranian regime’s human rights violations. There is a danger that the President’s statement will make the work to bring about peace in the Middle East that much more difficult.

At the same time, we must also demand that the State of Israel comply with the UN Security Council’s resolutions, that Israel immediately withdraw from the occupied territories and that Israel assume its share of responsibility for a two-state solution and thus finally accept an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. In this context, we must also criticise the State of Israel’s construction of a wall in the Palestinian territories. This is a wall that, among other things, separates farmers from their land and pupils from their schools and that prevents people who are ill from getting to hospitals. This wall must also be taken down.

  Gerard Batten, on behalf of the IND/DEM Group. – Mr President, Iran is developing a nuclear programme that it does not need since it is sitting on a sea of oil. It is clearly intended to provide the country with nuclear weapons. The President of Iran thinks that Israel should be wiped off the map. The ability of the West to deal with the threat posed by Iran has been severely restricted by the war in Iraq, a war Britain entered into because of the lies and deceit of our Prime Minister, Mr Blair. We all hope that the situation in Iran can be resolved peacefully, and this is certainly one of those cases where the West needs both to speak softly and to carry a big stick.

Unfortunately Britain’s big stick – its armed forces – is being merged into the euphemistically named European Defence Identity, i.e. a European army. If accomplished, this will prevent Britain from being able to embark on any independent military actions in the future. But once again, the EU assumes the attributes of a political state in order to address this problem and its pretensions are fully supported by a minister of Her Majesty’s Government. Meanwhile, this Parliament continually calls on both France and Britain to decommission their independent nuclear deterrents. If they did so there would not be the big stick that might ultimately be needed in any negotiations with Iran.

  Cristiana Muscardini, on behalf of the UEN Group. – (IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the expressions of hatred and violence uttered by the Iranian President, aiming at wiping the State of Israel off the map, are a threat to the whole civilised world.

Iran is a country of 68 million inhabitants, has an area of 1.7 million square kilometres and is a major oil producer. Its current president is trying to turn it into a state that represents the most extreme form of Islamic fundamentalism, that supports or does not condemn terrorist acts, and that is preparing to produce nuclear energy without the backing of the international community. If the Iranian President does not clearly change his stance, he will be a threat not only to Israel and the region, but also to all of us, to peace and to democracy.

Such a threat demands the strongest possible response. The unilateral nuclear rearming of Iran must be stopped in line with our resolution of 13 October 2005 and the conclusions of the General Affairs Council of 7 November. We must also seek a diplomatic solution to dispel the legitimate concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme.

If this threatening trend in Iran’s policy does not stop, we shall have to speak firmly of diplomatic and economic consequences, because these statements inciting violence against a democratic sovereign state are a danger to the democratic community as a whole. As institutions, however, we should continue to foster relations with the people.

We express our greatest solidarity with the State of Israel, which has also received statements of support from that part of the Islamic world that rejects terrorism, as well as the spontaneous support of the citizens of many of our countries. The pursuit of a lasting peace means that we must resoundingly condemn and take the necessary action against all those who instigate hatred and violence.

We call on our institutions to pay even greater attention to the opposition movements in Iran, which are denouncing the methods that this violent, repressive regime uses even against its own people.

  Douglas Alexander, President-in-Office of the Council. Mr President, it has once again been a high-quality debate on an important subject, similar to the last time we had an opportunity to debate these issues in this Chamber.

A number of speakers including the Commissioner and Mr Poettering have underlined the significance of the Iranian President’s statement for the wider Middle East peace process, and with that I would concur. President Ahmadinejad’s comments caused concern about Iran’s role more widely within the region and indeed about its future intentions. The fact that these comments were made on the same day as a horrific attack on Israeli citizens should reinforce for all of us the lesson that incitement to violence and to the terrorism that it breeds are despicable and unacceptable.

Frankly it is clear what Iran must do. It must renounce groups using terror and violence, including the kind of sickening propaganda that was referred to by Mr Poettering, and support a solution to the Palestinian question based on the principle of two states living side by side in peace and in security.

There is no reason why an Islamic political system such as Iran’s should deny fundamental democratic rights such as freedom of choice and freedom of expression and there can be no excuse for any system abusing human rights, as a number of speakers have made clear in the course of their contributions to this debate.

On the wider nuclear issue, Iran must provide objective guarantees that its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes. The governments of the European Union are now in close consultation with each other and key partners such as the United States, Russia, China, India and South Africa about the next steps. We all look to Iran to reinstate the suspension of uranium conversion activity which it agreed to last year and which the IAEA board itself has said is essential for confidence to be rebuilt and we urge Iran to come back to talks on long-term arrangements on the basis of the Paris agreement.

On 7 November, as speakers have mentioned, European Union Foreign Ministers reaffirmed the Union’s support for a diplomatic solution to international concerns over Iran’s nuclear programme which should include an agreement on long-term arrangements. Such a solution would help create the climate we believe to be necessary for a better relationship with Europe generally and the international community as a whole. Working and engaging with Iran is of course a challenge, but we must do our best to meet that challenge in the important weeks and months ahead.

Our preference remains to aim for a mutually beneficial relationship based on cooperation and our shared interests, in that Europe wants to see Iran realise its potential and to grow and prosper. That is certainly what its young population deserves and that is, as Ms Beer said, why it is important to keep open the links so that the other Iran, as it was described – the more open Iranian society to which speakers have addressed themselves today – can welcome the efforts which are being made to maintain that dialogue, certainly by the Commission and by others.

But a relationship of this sort will also need to address the European Union’s main concerns, including, of course, nuclear proliferation and human rights.

In conclusion, on behalf of the Presidency, let me say simply this: Iran stands at a critical juncture. The world is watching to see how its new government faces up to the very important choices that it has to make in the weeks, months and years ahead. We from a European Union point of view will continue to encourage Iran to address international concerns about its policies and about its statements. I hope that Iran does this and that its relations with the wider world and the European Union in particular are therefore able to evolve in the direction in which I believe this House wants them to develop.

(Applause)

  President. The debate is closed.

The vote will take place tomorrow.