A war of words has broken out between Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik and the Iranian ambassador after she accused his country’s authorities of using “brutal violence against its own citizens” in response to the protests that erupted after the death of a young woman in police custody.
There have been weeks of protest in Iran since 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini died in the custody of Iran’s “morality police”. She was arrested last month for allegedly failing to fully observe rules on wearing a hijab.
Authorities in Iran say Ms Amini died of a heart attack and deny allegations from her family that she had been beaten by police.
Norway-based organisation Iran Human Rights said this week it has confirmed the deaths of 234 protesters killed by security forces.
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In the Dáil last week Ms Bacik said: “the Iranian regime has been using particularly brutal violence against its own citizens following the brutal killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on 16 September by the so-called morality police.”
Ms Bacik added: “We have seen hundreds of Iranian girls and women beaten, arrested, tortured and killed in the protests.”
She called for the cutting of diplomatic ties with Iran.
Dr Masoud Eslami this week wrote to Ms Bacik expressing his “consternation” at her remarks.
He said: “There is a great deal of exaggeration in your emotive expressions. Have you really ‘seen’ ‘hundreds of girls and women’ ‘tortured’ and ‘killed’? What is the evidence of ‘the brutal killing of 22-year-old Masha Amini’?”
He said there has been “biased” media and social media coverage and “manipulation of public opinion” and “it is important that TDs receive objective information on controversial topics”.
Mr Eslami said Ms Bacik’s comments “clearly show a lack of objectivity and accountability” and “seem to be carrying a lot of misinformation too”. He invited Ms Bacik to a meeting “in all good faith” so he could provide “an objective briefing and a balanced review of recent developments in Iran” and he would welcome discussion on “any legitimate concerns” she might have.
Ms Bacik replied, saying: “I am shocked to see you describe my factual comments... as exaggerated and emotive.”
She said: “I question whether you would direct such language at a man.”
Ms Bacik added: “If you cannot recognise what is happening in your country as the violent suppression of women and their rights then I question what the point of discussing the situation with you further would be.”
She said that efforts by the Iranian authorities to “cover up the facts of Mahsa’s death have been extensively reported” and “implying that this is misinformation or manipulation is disingenuous”.
In a statement to The Irish Times, Mr Eslami said the Iranian Embassy has tried to facilitate “informative and objective dialogue” with Irish leaders and letters have been sent to other parliamentarians to discuss “the nature and the context of the recent unrest”.
Mr Eslami added that “given the inundating flow of negative reporting about Iran” it is likely that many politicians here are “overwhelmed by one-sided reports”. He said clear evidence of this can be found in what he described as Ms Bacik’s “aggressive remarks”.
Mr Eslami defended Iran’s record relating to women, saying that “despite economic hardship, there are numerous successful women with remarkable accomplishments in science, technology, sports, arts, journalism, medicine...
“Projecting a dark image of women living in Iran is far from the truth.”
He described Ms Amini’s death as “tragic” and said it has caused “a nationwide trauma in Iran with lasting effects.”
He said there is footage of her “unexpected collapse” and argued that “describing her death as ‘brutal killing’ is misleading and untruthful.”
Ms Bacik said that she stands over her characterisation of Ms Amini’s death, saying: “It is clear from multiple authoritative sources that she was detained by so-called ‘morality police’ for not abiding by Iran’s draconian dress code for women, and that she died in detention three days later.”
In his statement Mr Eslami said the context for the “recent upheaval” was Iran being confronted by “a hybrid war orchestrated by the United States and its allies” and that Iranian people and women and girls in particular “have been cruelly subjected to malign sanctions”.
Mr Eslami said: “The unrest in Iran is predominantly political in nature and it is misleading to portray this primarily in terms of human rights.”
He also said it is “important to recognise that recent protests in Iran have not been entirely peaceful” and “in many cases they have escalated to riots challenging law and order”.
Mr Eslami said: “Further escalation occurred when armed terrorists and separatist groups began to link the unrest to ethnic identities of people living in the border provinces of Iran, posing security threats to the country.”
