Bertie meets top Iranian politician over links with EU
FORMER taoiseach Bertie Ahern met one of Iran’s most influential politicians during his brief visit to the Middle East last week.
The ex-Fianna Fáil leader held talks with the country’s fourth president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who also served as Iran’s military commander-in-chief during its long-running war against Iraq in the 1980s.
According to a report published by Iran’s semi-official news agency Fars, Mr Ahern met Mr Rafsanjani last Tuesday in Tehran.
Mr Ahern was invited to Iran by labour minister Ali Rabiei as part of a bid to improve relations with Europe .
And the former taoiseach led a European delegation which held talks with senior Iranian officials, representatives of the country’s private sector, as well as investment companies.
Mr Rafsanjani is regarded as a pragmatic conservative who believes in free market economics and the privatisation of state-owned industries. And even more significantly, during his political career he has avoided conflict with the West, preferring instead to adopt a moderate position.
He was elected as speaker of Iran’s parliament in 1980 after the Iranian revolution and served as such for nine years. Then after the death of Ruhollah Khomeini – the founder of the Islamic republic – he joined the 1989 presidential race and was elected president.
During his tenure, Mr Rafsanjani was credited with rebuilding Iran after its eightyear war with Iraq. He abandoned the country’s leftist economic policies in favour of privatisation. He currently serves as chairman of the Expediency Council which advises Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
During the course of Mr Ahern and Mr Rafsanjani’s discussions, the Iranian politician accused the US of blocking an agreement between the West and Iran over the issue of nuclear weapons.
Outlining why no agreement has yet been reached, he said: ‘Iran is serious in the negotiations and in defending its nuclear rights, but there are domestic problems in the US that have even slowed down the European countries in reaching an agreement with Tehran.’
Meanwhile, according to Fars, the chairman of Iran’s Expediency Council criticised European countries for their political inconsistencies.
The news agency, which has close affiliations with Iran’s political elite, quoted Mr Rafsanjani as saying: ‘What kind of political wisdom is it to dis- rupt the tranquillity in a country and cause economic problems through creating insecure conditions.’
He also reportedly said that the West tends to withdraw militarily from countries after creating insecurities.
Mr Ahern also met the head of the Iran-Ireland Parliamentary Friendship Group, Javad Heravi.
During this meeting Mr Ahern said that the two countries should promote stronger ties in order to take advantage of their economic and commercial capabilities.
Iran has been trying to improve relations with the West since it and major world powers reached agreement over the state’s nuclear programme in November 2013.
‘Mr Ahern has been in regular contact with deputy foreign minister Takhte Ravanchi, who is the senior negotiator in the sanction negotiations,’ said a spokesman for Mr Ahern.
Mr Ahern will be returning to Iran in two months with a delegation of businessmen. ‘Trade between Iran and Ireland is approximately €75m a year and Iran is very keen to see that figure improving,’ said a spokesman.
‘Serious in defending
nuclear rights’