Posted on 08/04/2009 8:43:31 PM PDT by nuconvert
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will not congratulate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on his second term as Iran's president but Britain will send its ambassador to Ahmadinejad's swearing-in, officials said on Tuesday. "The prime minister will not be writing to congratulate Mr. Ahmadinejad," a spokesman for Brown said. He declined to elaborate. Ahmadinejad is due to be sworn in by parliament on Wednesday following his disputed re-election on June 12, which caused Iran's worst unrest since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The British Foreign Office said that, following informal coordination between European Union embassies in Tehran, it would send its ambassador to the ceremony. It suggests the EU has decided against making a symbolic protest at Wednesday's ceremony by downgrading its representation.
Britain sent its number two in Tehran, Patrick Davies, instead of Ambassador Simon Gass when Iran's supreme leader endorsed Ahmadinejad's second term on Monday.
"Ambassador Simon Gass will attend the parliamentary event on Wednesday. We will not be sending a message of congratulations to Ahmadinejad. While ultimately a matter for (EU) member states, this follows informal EU coordination between embassies in Tehran," a Foreign Office spokeswoman said.
A Foreign Office spokesman said earlier it was not "business as usual" with Iran but Britain wanted to address important issues with Tehran and to do this "communication channels have to be open."
These issues included Tehran's nuclear program and British concerns over human rights in Iran, it said.
Spokesmen for U.S. President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said earlier their leaders would also not congratulate Ahmadinejad.
The United States, Britain, France and Germany are among the six countries trying to encourage Iran to stop enriching uranium under a nuclear program that Tehran says is peaceful but which the West fears is aimed at developing nuclear weapons.
Relations between Britain and Iran, always tense in recent years, worsened after the election when Iran detained nine local employees of the British Embassy for alleged involvement in the post-election street protests.
All were later released, although the bail for one, chief analyst Hossein Rassam, was set at nearly $100,000 German Chancellor Angela Merkel will not send a letter of congratulations to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on his re-election, a government spokesperson in Berlin said on Monday.
Klaus Vater, Merkel’s deputy spokesperson, told reporters that “in view of his controversial re-election, the chancellor won’t be congratulating” Ahmadinejad, reports Deutsche Presse-Agentur [DPA].
Vater also called on the Iranian government to release all political prisoners detained since June’s disputed presidential election.
Earlier on Monday, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, endorsed Ahmadinejad’s presidency, in a ceremony boycotted by leading reformists and opposition leaders.
Ahmadinejad will be sworn in on Wednesday.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday called for the release of “political prisoners” in Iran, and voiced concern about the trial of 100 people accused of stoking unrest after the election.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Hassan Qashqavi, today denounced those remarks as “interference” in Tehran’s affairs, reports the official IRNA news agency.
I thought I heard on Levin’s show today a clip where Gates said Oboobma recognizes Alphabet as the elected leader. Well, at least their messages are consistently inconsistent.
Didn’t hear about Gates, but Gibbs said it.
My bad. Gates on the brain. I stand corrected.
I figured California, Oregon and Washington would be the first to line up.
I had a hard time with that Gates episode too, because I kept thinking of Defense Secretary Robert Gates whenever I heard the name.
My guess is that ostammer gave Ahmanutjob a BJ when his re-election was confirmed.
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