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"This trip offers the Iranian regime the possibility to celebrate yet another propaganda success."
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VIENNA/BRUSSELS (EJP)---Vienna-based European coalition Stop The Bomb, which campaigns for tough economic and political sanctions against the Iranian regime, has urged the cancellation of a planned trip by a delegation of the European parliament to Iran.
The 5-day trip by the 15-member delegation from 6 countries is scheduled for October 27.
The announcement of the parliamentary trip comes just days after the EU imposed further tough sanctions against Iran. The new "restrictive measures', as the EU put it in the Council conclusions on Iran, target the financial, trade, energy and transport sectors.
"Considering the given situation, in which the Iranian regime unwaveringly cherishes its nuclear program, continuously repeats its threats of annihilation towards Israel, represses by brute force every movement of the opposition in Iran and directly participates in quelling the protests in Syria, this visit would set the worst signal possible and subvert the Iranian opposition," Stop The Bomb said in a statement.
"We urge the conference of Presidents to prohibit courting the Iranian Regime as they did in 2011. This trip entirely contradicts the spirit of the EU's sanctions and it thwarts the recent decisions by the EU member states. Instead of increasing pressure on Tehran, this trip offers the regime the possibility to celebrate yet another propaganda success," said Simone Dinah Hartmann, Stop The Bomb spokesperson for Europe in an message to Martin Schulz, President of the European parliament.