wikipediaParis, 28/01/2016
Dear Friends,
let me commend all the organizers and participants of this extraordinary meeting . A meeting of hearts and minds . A strong expression of will by all those who are and always will be committed to defend liberty , human dignity, inalienable rights of all men and women in our nations and worldwide.
Just before last Monday’s visit to Italy, President Hassan Rouhani delegation insisted to hide and remove statues and painting in Rome’s Capitoline Museums which have been displayed there for Centuries and which have been admired for thousands years as marking symbols of the European civilization.
Statues of Venus as goddess of beauty and fertility , paintings representing the bennings and rooths or Roman history.
That was -and I quote a representative of a far-Left Party – ”the shame and mortification for art and culture understood as universal concepts” . Other voices have immediately denounced “the level of cultural submission of Prime Minister Renzi to the wishes of the Iranian delegation, surpassing every limit of decency”.
Our culture, traditions, values cannot be sold out so cheaply.
They cannot be sold out so cheaply only because business strategists or politicians mix up all the rules and believe that our common values , which belong to the people, can be traded against some advantageous contract. This readiness to “submission” does not only apply to our most fundamental values. It applies also to our Countries security and national interest .
A special reason of concern is the misleading impression that Iran can be our partner in fighting terrorism ,and can become an ally for regional stability and political solutions in Syria, Iraq,Yemen and elsewhere.
Syria is strategically very important to the survival of the Iranian regime. It spends almost 15 billion dollar every year to kill the Syrian people and back the Syrian dictator.
Rouhani has been outspoken in support of Assad. At the UN General Assembly Session last September he declared his unrelanting support for Assad and called the entire Syrian opposition as terrorists , without any difference whasoever between the ISIS and the rest.
Foreign Minister Zarif, expressed his abhorrence over a resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly last December on Human Rights in Syria calling for the withdrawal of all foreign forces fighting in Syria in support of Assad , including Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps and Hezbollah of Lebanon.
And Rouhani’s Interior Minister said to Assad only two weeks ago that Khamenei and Rouhani are “very much bind to the Syrian President and constantly reiterate on assisting and fully supporting the Syrian government and nation” , adding that “Rouhani always praises your personality and thinks highly of you” (ISNA state news agency).
The nuclear deal is not the only obvious area in which Iran can demonstrate a real commitment to moderation: releasing political prisoners, safeguarding the rights of citizens, withdrawing support for terrorist groups, retracting hateful propaganda, and ending their meddling in the affairs of other countries are just as important.
Until such results are achieved, the narrative of Iranian moderation will remain a fantasy. The West needs a better foundation on which to base moral and politically-effective policies.
