The EU and NATO express their condolences on the death of Ebrahim Raisí | International

The rift that is opening between diplomatic relations between Iran and the West can be seen in the timid condolences published this Monday by the European Union and NATO following the confirmation of the death of the country's president, Ebrahim Raisí, in a helicopter accident the day before. . “The EU expresses its sincere condolences […] Our thoughts are with the families,” lamented the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, in X. Very similar words have been launched by the High Representative for EU foreign policy, Josep Borrell. NATO, on the other hand, has appointed Farah Dakhlallah as spokesperson., who expresses condolences on social networks “to the people of Iran”; The Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, the highest representative of the Atlantic Alliance, has not done this.

The fact that they were Michel and Borrell – the only voices authorized under the treaties to speak on the EU's foreign policy – ​​makes it clear that the Union was only trying to comply with the file, as relations with Iran are going through a period not just cold, but icy. Iran's support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine by sending military equipment; for the attack launched on Israel a few weeks ago; or for the repression of protests following the death of the young Mahsa Amini, arrested for wearing her veil incorrectly. Faced with the criticism leveled even in response to that timid message, Michel's spokesperson, Ecaterina Casinge, recalled that diplomacy is above all dialogue, “even with regimes with which we have deep disagreements.” Moreover, in the Iranian case, continuing this dialogue is “essential to prevent a regional escalation and maintain stability in the region,” he stressed. In any case, and contrary to what is usual in other mourning circumstances, this time neither the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, nor the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, joined them.

Many heads of state and prime ministers of the Member States have also not joined the condolences: the Spaniard Pedro Sánchez has made no reference to Yes, however, he has expressed his regret to the Hungarian Viktor Orbánan almost infallible thermometer that indicates that the rest of the partners are moving in the opposite direction.

In the United States, neither the President, Joseph Biden, nor the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, have made any reference on their social networks.

The rift opening between the EU and Tehran was not an obstacle for the Twenty-Seven to activate on Sunday the Copernicus satellite network, which allows for ultra-precise observation of what is happening on the Earth's surface, to assist in the search for the crashed helicopter, which was carrying Raisí and the Iranian Foreign Minister, among others. This also serves to understand that the break is not total and that some channels remain open, because there are also people in Brussels who defend that all diplomatic relations with the Persian theocratic regime should not be broken.

This difficult balance is observed in some of this Monday's comments. For example, the historic Belgian liberal MEP Guy Verhofstadt, also former Prime Minister of his country, who did not hesitate on his social networks to describe the late president as “a mass murderer and one of the main organizers of the regime's growing inhumanity and impunity. ” In this rejection – probably his only political coincidence – he agrees with Geert Wilders, the leader of the Dutch ultra party, a formation that will be decisive in the next Dutch government. Wilders responded to the condolences expressed by Michel with another message on X: “Not in my name.”

On the difficult relations between the West and Iran today: It's worth adding the late president's own career. He took part, according to Amnesty Internationalas a judge in the 1988 suppression of the theocratic regime, in the execution of at least 5,000 political prisoners, which earned him fame as a magistrate who easily sentences to death, what is called a “hanging judge” in Middle Eastern countries.

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