Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the delegation and think we have discussed this matter before. It is more important for us to discuss it now in the light of the international movement and changes that seem to be occurring. On behalf of the Government, one could say the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will never compromise on the issue of human rights which are one of the fundamental stools on which our foreign policy and relations are based. Even as we develop trade links, a human rights element is always to the fore.

I am happy to hold out the hand of friendship to the Iranians, but I am very cautious. My understanding of the current President is that he is a religious person and that in Iran one can only stand for the presidency when one obtains the sanction of the religious authorities. It is a strange structure. It is not like a liberal democracy such as Ireland. The supreme leader did not have the President as his chosen candidate, which begs the question as to how much freedom the President has. It is very impressive for me to see that when the President went to the United States, he took a Jewish Member of Parliament along as his adviser. Iran, Jews and Judaism do not seem to mix in the public's perception. A very sophisticated seduction could be taking place, which is probably partly due to the effect of the sanctions which we understand are hurting. I understand the delegation's fears that the nuclear issue will be the predominant one and that everybody will sit back and say they have achieved progress. It is a little like the situation in Syria. We do not hear much about President Assad at present, except that a deal is being done between the Americans and the Russians on weapons of mass destruction. However, the other weapons of destruction are probably blasting away. We fought for and lobbied ambassadors and foreign dignitaries extensively to gain our position on the UN Human Rights Council and are assured that the religious rights and freedoms of the Baha'is will be more adequately represented by our representative. Is it the perception that Iran has a very sophisticated public relations exercise, given the political and religious structure in place and the ratification one must have even to stand for the presidency? Hundreds of potential candidates were not even allowed to stand it. The situation is evolving and the words coming out are very reassuring. If we as a committee can further encourage them to move in a progressive direction, we will do so, even with the fear that it may be a con job.