Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was putting a context around the ambition to open an embassy in Iran. There are many things happening in Iran at the moment that raise serious question marks about our bilateral relationship. There are questions around how woman, girls and protesters are treated. The reality is that Iran is providing drones to Russia which are being used to target civilians in Ukraine. These are matters I have raised directly with the Iranian foreign minister, who I have got to know quite well because of our responsibilities on the Security Council in trying to advance progress on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or the Iranian nuclear deal. My recent discussions with the Iranian foreign minister have been dominated by those other issues. Our plan is to follow though on our commitment to have a presence in that region, in Tehran. We currently have a team located in the German embassy in Tehran. That will allow us to have a presence in the area while we manage the process of finding our own premises and location and so on. Doing so remains the plan. I have called in the Iranian ambassador in recent weeks to express concern in respect of a number of issues that are causing a lot of concern worldwide. Iran is making certain choices at the moment and particularly while it is on the Security Council, Ireland has a responsibility to speak out when it is concerned, which we are. As of now, the plan is to continue with what we had planned to do, which is to have an embassy in Iran. We will obviously have to keep that under review in light of what will happen in the coming months.

Some people ask why would we want to open an embassy in a country we have a fundamental issue with and with which we disagree on a range of matters. Sometimes that is all the more reason to establish an embassy. By having an embassy, we can ensure our voices and concerns are heard in an effort to try to bring about change, push another perspective, or whatever. Iran is a big player in its region. It is a large and powerful country. Ireland has many interests across the Middle East and Gulf states and wants stability in that part of the world. It makes sense for us to have a presence there. I must say we have been worried in recent months about some of the choices Iran has made. I have made those concerns known directly to the minister and the ambassador.