Iran’s man in Ireland led fight against Rushdie award

IRAN’S new ambassador to Ireland led his country’s charge against Britain’s decision to grant author Salman Rushdie a knighthood earlier this year.

When it was announced in June that Mr Rushdie was among the Queen’s “birthday honours” list, the British ambassador in Tehran Geoffrey Adams was summoned to a meeting at the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

Delivering the dressing-down to Mr Adams was Ebrahim Rahimpour, who yesterday presented his credentials to President Mary McAleese as Iran’s new ambassador to Ireland.

“This insulting, suspicious and improper act by the British government is an obvious example of fighting against Islam,” Mr Rahimpour told Mr Adams at the time, according to IRNA, the state-run news agency in Iran.

“It has seriously wounded the beliefs of 1.5 billion Muslims and followers of other religions.”

Mr Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses prompted the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Supreme Leader of Iran, to issue a “fatwa” or death sentence against the author in 1989.

In 1998, the Iranian government disassociated itself from the fatwa.

But in June, Iran was exercised by the honour bestowed on Mr Rushdie. Mr Rahimpour declared Britain’s decision to award Mr Rushdie the knighthood was a “provocation”. The British government denied the knighthood was intended to insult Islam.

It is not the only time Mr Rahimpour has acted as assertive spokesman for his government.

In December last year, he criticised then British Prime Minister Tony Blair after he said Iran posed a “strategic threat” to the Middle East.

On that occasion, the British ambassador in Tehran was also summoned, and Mr Rahimpour told him Mr Blair’s accusation was without foundation.

Mr Rahimpour also criticised the British government for co-sponsoring a UN Security Council resolution that imposed sanctions against Iran for refusing to halt its uranium enrichment programme.

The official was also centrally involved in the negotiations between Iran and Britain to free 15 British sailors seized by Iranian forces in the Persian Gulf in March.

A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said yesterday that Ireland had “quite good relations” with Iran.