Iran’s Zarif slams Europe and US for human rights scrutiny

Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has made fiery remarks in what seems to be a direct jab at Europe and the United States for pressuring Iran on purported human rights abuses. Last week, the United Kingdom, France and Germany, together known as the E3, summoned Iranian ambassadors to their countries in a coordinated diplomatic protest of Iran’s treatment of dual nationality and political prisoners. Shortly after, Germany issued a critical statement on Iran to the United Nations Human Rights Council of behalf of 47 countries, while UN rights experts reportedly demanded the unconditional release of imprisoned prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh. On Monday, the last day of the week in which Iran annually commemorates the sacrifices made during the eight-year Iran-Iraq War that ended with UN mediation in 1988, the Iranian foreign minister tore into those European powers. “You assisted Saddam with $75bn … and now you make claims?” he said during a ceremony to commemorate those who laid down their lives during the 1980-1988 war, which began when a then-Western-backed Saddam Hussein invaded Iran. Zarif continued by saying the Iraqi dictator’s backers gave him aircraft and chemical weapons to topple the newly formed nation. “Chemical weapons from Germany and Netherlands were given to Saddam to use against the Iranian people,” the diplomat said, asking: “And now you claim to be civilised? “History has not forgotten your crimes. The Iranian people will not forget these crimes. You participated in crimes against the Iranian nation and now you claim of [championing] human rights? You committed crimes against humanity.” style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">