A member of Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission says a visit to Iran by Dutch parliamentarians was cancelled because the delegates intended to meet with “seditious and anti-Revolutionary elements.”
Ebrahim Aghamohammadi told the Mehr News Agency on April 13 that the delegation was told it would have to follow diplomatic norms such as not meeting with anti-Revolutionaries. He added: “The Dutch parliamentary delegation did not accept this condition; therefore, their trip was cancelled and the foreign ministry did not approve their visit.”
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, told reporters the Dutch ambassador now has been informed that delegates should not travel to Iran if they are planning to meet with opponents of the Islamic Republic.
The conditions set on the Dutch parliamentary delegation’s visit reflect the controversy that was triggered by Catherine Ashton, the top EU diplomat, when she met with a number of Iranian women’s rights and human rights activists at the Austrian Embassy in Tehran. That meeting drew fierce fire from Iranian hardliners.
