Zelenskyy rejects EU “associate membership” proposal
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected a German proposal to grant Ukraine “associate” membership of the European Union, warning it w...
The Iranian missions in London and Vienna strongly condemned the remarks by the European Union Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas on the imposition of further sanctions on Tehran as a “highway of hypocrisy,” amid the Israeli-U.S. war on the Islamic Republic.
"Let's talk about the European highway of hypocrisy. A hundred and sixty-eight Iranian schoolchildren massacred. Bridges targeted. Water infrastructure destroyed. EU response: None. EU action: Sanction the victim. This is the new Berlin Wall of morality," state-owned IRNA news agency quoted an embassy statement as saying.
“Iran says Hormuz is open; the U.S. says it is closed and impounds ships. EU's response: silence. The U.S. Navy targets Dena for fun, sailors killed. EU response: silence. ICC (International Criminal Court) arrest warrants for Israeli officials. EU response: visits and hugs,” the Embassy said on its social media platforms.
The comments come after Kallas said on Tuesday (21 April) that EU countries have agreed to widen restrictions against Iran to include those responsible for blocking the Strait of Hormuz.
Kallas also said she had asked foreign affairs ministers at their meeting in Luxembourg to bolster the EU's naval mission in the Middle East, which is currently protecting ships from attacks by Yemen's Houthi group in the Red Sea.
In a stern criticism, the embassy also accused the European bloc of “double standards”, saying the green continent has “sold its honour” and issued the bill in the name of Iranian students killed by the U.S. air raids on a primary school in Minab, southern Iran.
According to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), the statement was made following the EU’s foreign policy chief's remarks on Iran’s “reckless U-turns”.
In Vienna, Iran’s mission warned that the repetition of any aggressive and provocative action, including the imposition of wider sanctions, will have severe consequences for Europe.
“It is regrettable that the European Union is so strongly clinging to its discredited habit of bullying, accusing and imposing inhumane sanctions on Iran,” the embassy said in a statement quoted by IRNA.
“The EU’s recent statements are pathetic and a last attempt to maintain the same practice, which strongly reeks of hypocrisy and irrelevance.”
The Iranian mission urged European officials to “understand that the aggressive war of the U.S. and Israeli regimes against Iran has changed the situation fundamentally and irreversibly.”
“Any future dialogue with Iran must be conducted with a rational, realistic and utmost respect approach,” said the statement, while Tehran and the EU are already at loggerheads over the bloc’s triggering United Nations nuclear sanctions on Iran in 2025.
Earlier, Iran’s mission in London slammed remarks by the President of the European Council regarding Israeli-U.S. war on Iran, terming his silence over "aggressors’ crimes" a sign of “ethical bankruptcy” of European leaders.
“Millions of conscientious Europeans condemn U.S. and Israeli war crimes against Iran, but the top EU official can't even mention 'Israel' by name, and is instead blaming Iran,” it said in a post on the Embassy’s social platforms.
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The U.S. and Iran have given mixed signals about progress in peace talks, after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there had been “some progress,” while Iran’s Foreign Ministry said major differences remained.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Thursday (21 May) they would allow 31 commercial ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. AnewZ’s Touraj Shiralilou reports from the strategic waterway as it becomes central to peace talks between Iran and the U.S.
Disputes over control of the Strait of Hormuz and uranium enrichment continue to hinder peace talks between the U.S. and Iran, as Pakistan stepped up mediation efforts during meetings in Tehran on Friday.
Iran’s Supreme Leader has issued a directive that the country’s near-weapons-grade enriched uranium must not be sent abroad, according to two senior Iranian sources, marking a firm tightening of Tehran’s position in ongoing negotiations with the United States.
Standing amidst the shattered concrete, twisted reinforcing bars, and scattered pages of elementary school textbooks, the profound tragedy of war feels very close to home.
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