IRELAND has joined its EU partners in withdrawing its Ambassador from Iran after a German court ruling that Tehran ordered the 1992 killings of four Kurdish dissidents.
The EU now seems poised to add to Iran's political isolation by suspending its policy of "critical dialogue" with it. This follows the decision of the Superior Court of Justice in Berlin in the so-called Mykonos case, named after the Greek restaurant in Berlin where a deadly gun battle took place in September, 1992.
The court said it believed the Iranian spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ordered the murders of the dissidents.
The EU said last night that this involvement of the Iranian authorities "at the highest level. . in acts of terrorism" was totally unacceptable. The Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Spring, announcing the withdrawal of the Irish Ambassador, said he was "profoundly concerned" at the court finding.
Iran has denied being involved, and last night rejected the verdict as biased. Its Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mr Mahmoud Mohammadi, said the court verdict was unfounded and influenced by a propaganda campaign against Iran, the official Iranian IRNA news agency reported.
Mr Spring expressed his solidarity with Germany, and said the decision "of the independent German judiciary" clearly has implications for the future of EU-Iran relations.
Europe has continued a policy of "critical dialogue" with Iran since December 1992 despite pressure, particularly from the United States, to shun the government in Tehran, which Washington accuses of state terrorism. After yesterday's ruling, however, the EU said "there is no basis for the continuation of the critical dialogue" which covered human rights, combating international terrorism, the fatwa on the writer Salman Rushdie and other issues.
According to the statement from the Dutch EU Presidency: "The presidency invited member states to recall their ambassadors for co-ordinated consultation on the future relationship of the European Union with Iran.
"The Council meeting on April 29th will review the European Union's relations with Iran and decide what further action would be appropriate." The EU had always wanted a constructive relationship with Iran, it says, but would review its relationship now that "the involvemert by the Iranian authorities at the highest level was established".
However, in an official statement yesterday, the German Foreign Ministry expressed the hope that the diplomatic row with Iran should not escalate further.
"From the point of view of the federal government, responsibility lies with the Iranian state and not with its religious institutions The federal government has confidence in Iran's assurances that the security of German citizens and German property in Iran will be protected" it said.
Bonn is confident that the court's failure to name any leading Iranian political figures (apart from intelligence chief, Mr Ali Fallahian) will ensure a relatively muted response from Tehran. But the statement acknowledged that the verdict meant that Bonn's "critical dialogue" with Tehran must be suspended.
"The federal government regrets this in view of the friendly relations that have existed between the Iranian and German peoples for more than 100 years," it said.
The Social Democrat spokesman on foreign affairs, Mr Guenther Verheugen, urged the government to abandon its special relationship with Iran altogether.