(Times-UK) Martin Fletcher - Mohammed-Reza Heydari, Iran's consul in Oslo, Norway, has resigned his post, denounced his government and urged colleagues around the world to do the same after the regime's brutal suppression of huge opposition demonstrations last month. The Arabic television channel al-Arabiya reported on Sunday that 27 Iranian diplomats had resigned in protest at the crackdown on the opposition, including one in Britain and two each in France and Germany. Ali Ansari, a professor of Iranian history at the University of St. Andrews, said that it was striking how scarcely a single Iranian ambassador around the world had defended the regime publicly since the disputed election in June. "That's their job," he said. Their silence was more surprising because most were appointed by President Ahmadinejad when he purged their reform-minded predecessors after his first election victory in 2005.
2010-01-18 08:03:06Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive