Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have had a number of engagements in the House with the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney, in recent times. He has argued very strongly that communication makes sense. He made that argument when it was put to him, for example, that Ireland should be questioning its relationship with Saudi Arabia in light of the total destruction that state is causing in Yemen. He argues that it is better to keep dialogue open in order to communicate. The position was similar regarding the Israeli ambassador after the slaughter in Palestine recently when unarmed innocent protestors were shot dead. It was horrific. However, the Minister stresses the need for communication.

It beggars belief that we do not have an embassy in Tehran. Deputy Clare Daly and I visited Iran last year. We were asked to speak at a Palestinian conference there. I was hugely impressed by the country and the people. They are amazing, beautiful people. They want to do business with Ireland. In the 12 months prior to 1 May, we sold €140 million worth of exports to Iran. That makes sense, but we could be doing so much more. Iran has a population of 80 million. They want to do more business with us. For example, we do not buy any beef from Iran. That is madness. Iranians want to buy our beef. Not only do they want beef for themselves but they do an awful lot of business with countries in the region. If they were to establish strong links with Ireland in the beef trade, they could sell Irish beef to the countries around them, quite apart from what they would consume themselves with a growing and developing population of 80 million. Iran is going to become one of the fastest-developing countries in Asia. It has the second largest economy in the Middle East.

One of the main reasons we are not doing more business with Iran is that we are scared the Americans will not want us to do so. There is a very good reason the Americans do not want us to do business with it. They have a problem with the fact they do not control business interests in Iran. America would do all kinds of things to make sure it can open avenues for its business interests. The nullifying of the nuclear agreement recently by Trump is linked to this and it is not something that European countries were in favour of. All the European countries criticised Trump for breaking the nuclear deal with Iran because there was no evidence whatsoever that Iran had broken the agreement. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, would agree with me and he was not in favour of what Trump did. Is there a prospect in the near future that we will come to our senses and reopen our embassy in Teheran in the interests of both sides, Ireland and Iran?

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