Madam, – Ebrahim Rahimpour, the Iranian Ambassador to Ireland (June 16th), states that the Iranians who protested at a meeting addressed by the Iranian foreign minister in Dublin did so “with the purpose of gaining refugee status in Ireland”.
Mr Rahimpour could not have known the status or the motives of the protesters beyond the public statements which they made and therefore his statement is without substance.
Furthermore, it is not unusual for a country which has been criticised for human rights violations to accuse its opponents of terrorism with the intention of distracting attention from its own record. It is essential that the rights of refugees are respected, including their right to peaceful protest. – Yours, etc,