I first visited Iran with a few fellow MPs back in 2006, and for eight years of my career in Westminster I co-chaired the Iran group in Parliament. I have met Iranian ministers and generals, some of whom are no longer alive after Israel’s strikes. I have even been to a party (non-drinking) in North Tehran where the granddaughter of a Grand Ayatollah was in attendance. I have met the hardliners, the reformers and the ordinary Iranians.
Iran is a beautiful country with some of the nicest people in the Middle East. They are a brave people, struggling to live free from oppression. I say brave because many Iranians challenge the regime at great cost to themselves. In recent times we have seen the Green movement and the Hijab protest. It is not uncommon to meet someone in Tehran whose friends have been beaten or detained by the authorities for something as simple as attending a party.
I first visited Iran with a few fellow MPs back in 2006, and for eight years of my career in Westminster I co-chaired the Iran group in Parliament. I have met Iranian ministers and generals, some of whom are no longer alive after Israel’s strikes. I have even been to a party (non-drinking) in North Tehran where the granddaughter of a Grand Ayatollah was in attendance. I have met the hardliners, the reformers and the ordinary Iranians.
Iran is a beautiful country with some of the nicest people in the Middle East. They are a brave people, struggling to live free from oppression. I say brave because many Iranians challenge the regime at great cost to themselves. In recent times we have seen the Green movement and the Hijab protest. It is not uncommon to meet someone in Tehran whose friends have been beaten or detained by the authorities for something as simple as attending a party.