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

I have had much more interaction with my Iranian counterpart than most Irish foreign ministers would have. This is because of our role on the Security Council. We are what is called a facilitator of Resolution 2231. Effectively, this means we put reports together for the Security Council on the progress, or lack thereof, on what is called the Iranian nuclear deal or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA. This is something Ireland volunteered to do at the start of our term on the Security Council. To be honest, it was one of the impossible files. Since the change in President of the US, there has been a real effort in recent years to try to rebuild what President Trump deliberately collapsed. This was a deal whereby the western world would remove sanctions on Iran in return for complete transparency in the Iranian nuclear programme. I have visited Tehran twice in this regard. I have spoken to the Iranian foreign minister many times on it.

The relationship that has been built up around the JCPOA has allowed me to speak directly on our concerns about the human rights abuses of protesters. We have called for an independent investigation into what happened to Mahsa Amini. We are concerned that Iran has provided Russia with weapons that are now targeting civilians in Ukraine. These are straight conversations where Ireland is calling out breaches in international law. There is also a very concerning situation if Iran continues to support Russian efforts targeting civilians in Ukraine.

See this speech in context