Hi Michael, I was happy to hear that the EU is not only very generous in finacially supporting our life-science research and keep our genetic and mutagenesis projects running, but they at the end also became aware of the human rights situation in Iran. They gave this years “Andrej Sakharaov Price for Freedom of Thought” to two Iranians who are imprissoned for their continous fight for intellectual freedom and against political oppression: film director Jafar Panahi and the lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh. It was an important message by the Europeans, since many politically active Iranians were disillusioned by the West for its hypocrisis when it comes to Iran. The oppression of the Iranian people was often considered a minor issue for the West, who was more concerned Irans nuclear program.
Take Care
Ghazal
Ghazal my Dear, I’m happy that the members of the EU parlament dont hide anymore behind their microphones and held endless debates with little consequences. I hope they wont withdraw anymore when it comes to human rights violations in Iran. Some of them had planned to visit Iran and hand over the prize to Panahi and Sotoudeh personally. They are both imprisoned in Evin, the place notorious for torture, raping and killing political prisoners. Not surprisingly, the so-called parlament of the IRI and the gouvernment did not permitted the EU officials to go there. The trip to Iran was therefore cancelled by the European delegation at all. I think it was a brave move.