EU Under Pressure Over Satellite Support To Iran
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BRUSSELS/THE HAGUE (Worthy News) – The European Union’s leadership has faced condemnation for providing Iran with satellite technology during the recent search for late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi after his helicopter crashed.
The EU’s executive European Commission confirmed that it was activating a satellite mapping service known as the Copernicus Emergency Management Service to aid in the search
Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarcic said the decision was made “upon Iranian request for assistance.”
He said on social media that the service showed #EUSolidarity, prompting outrage. “Are you going to rescue Russian President Vladimir Putin after this?” critics wondered on social media.
They recalled Raisi’s deadly crackdown on political opponents and his support for militia targeting Israel, including Hamas, which killed some 1,200 people on October 7.
Yet the president of the EU’s European Council, EU leader Charles Michel, expressed sorrow over the passing of a man whom rights groups viewed as the ‘Butcher of Tehran.’
Michel wrote in X, formerly known as Twitter, that “The EU expresses its sincere condolences for the death of President Raisi and Foreign Minister Abdollahian, as well as other members of their delegation and crew in a helicopter accident. Our thoughts go to the families.”
SOLIDARITY WITH VICTIMS
However, several European legislators wondered where the condolences were for “all the victims” of Raisi’s policies.
In the Netherlands, legislator Ruben Brekelmans of the Dutch conservative-liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) said the EU should show solidarity with the victims of the Iranian regime: “If this step is already complicated due to protocol obligations, do not send such a cheering message on X with a misplaced hashtag,” he said referring to #EUSolidarity.
The Christian-Democratic leaning New Social Contract (NDC) party’s Dirk Gotink said he had ‘little understanding’ for EU solidarity with Iran: “EU satellites are helping the Iranian government,” he complained.
They help “The terrorist regime that undermines and attacks the West everywhere,” Gotink added.
He recalled that Tehran is involved in several conflicts ranging from Russia’s war against Ukraine to kidnapping an EU diplomat to backing Houthi rebels in Yemen who attack ships in the Red Sea.
That prompted the Netherlands to send a warship as part of what has been called the “EU’s most dangerous maritime mission ever” to protect ships.
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