Iranian Nobel winner urges EU, UN to send special envoys to Tehran

Jun 24, 2009, 15:22 GMT

Brussels - Iranian dissident and Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi urged the United Nations and the European Union to send special envoys to Iran in a bid to stop the government's violent crackdown on opposition demonstrators.

'I appeal to the people in world, to the international community, to ask the Iranian government to stop the violence and listen to its people,' Ebadi said after a meeting in Brussels with the president of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering.

Ebadi, who also met EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana while in Brussels, said she had already asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to send a special envoy to Iran.

'Today I have placed a similar request to the European parliament,' Ebadi said.

The Iranian government on Tuesday accused Ban of 'interfering' with the country's internal affairs after the secretary general issued a statement calling for an end to violence. 

Tehran has levelled similar accusations at Britain, France, Germany and the United States for allegedly fuelling anti-government protests in Iran.

Poettering said he would be ready to lead a European Parliament delegation 'as soon as possible.'

'We demand from the regime that the security forces stop immediately the violence against demonstrators,' said Poettering, noting that if last week's presidential elections had not been 'massive flawed,' the regime would have nothing to fear.

An EU mission to Iran would first have to be approved by the local authorities.

Poettering also rejected claims that the demonstrations were being stirred by the West, saying these had been clearly 'spontaneous.'

Ebadi, who won a Nobel prize in 2003 for her efforts to promote democracy and human rights in Iran, also repeated a call for fresh elections, to be held under international supervision.

The Iranian lawyer and teacher also claimed that Iranian security forces had recently stormed a dormitory at Tehran University at 3 am local time, killing five students and injuring several others.

Poettering said the European Parliament was offering its full 'solidarity and sympathy' to those demonstrators who were peacefully campaigning for democracy and human rights in Iran.

Hundreds of people are believed to have been arrested in Iran since the election results were announced on Saturday, declaring incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner.