BBC News - Foreign Secretary on situation in Iran

17 Jun 2009

Foreign Secretary David Miliband was interviewed on BBC News on the situation in Iran, 17 June 2009.

Speaker:	Foreign Secretary David Milibad
Location:	BBC News

Foreign Secretary David Miliband was interviewed on BBC News on the situation in Iran, 17 June 2009.

Read the transcript

Joanna Gosling (JG): Let’s just return to the situation in Iran because we can speak to the Foreign Secretary David Miliband for his thoughts on what is happening in Iran.

Thank you very much for joining us. What do you think about what we’re seeing? It seems possibly that the authorities in Iran have decided to play a bit of a long game and just let these protests keep going.

David Miliband (DM): Good evening. I think this is a very important moment. There’s clearly an enormous debate raging inside Iran. There’s also a deep and serious debate going on inside the regime. I think it’s important to remember that Mr Mousavi, one of the two leading candidates in this election, was the Prime Minister during the Iran Iraq war. He was a colleague of Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Iranian republic.

So this is a key moment and it’s about internal policy, it’s about economic and social reform and I think that’s the context in which to see this. There’s also the demand for respect that I think we’re hearing from those protestors who are able to get their message out either through email or Twitter or sometimes through interviews. What they’re saying is they want their votes to be respected, they want the word in respect of the Iranian democracy to be upheld.

JG: Some intelligence reports suggest that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad might indeed have legitimately won this election. I mean obviously the premise of the protestors is that the election was rigged. Do you think that it’s perfectly possible that, that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did win legitimately?

DM: Well it’s certainly true that in the first election five years ago Mr Ahmadinejad’s support was severely under estimated. He had much greater support in poorer working class communities than people expected and he got a bigger vote. However, his vote seems to have gone up, at least according to the figures that were published on Friday Saturday and there’s severe doubts in Iran about the results that were announced. The truth is we don’t know, but it’s also the truth that lots of Iranians don’t know and I think that’s why this investigation has been set up by the Supreme Leader. It reflects the depth of concern, as I say concern which exists within the higher reaches of the regime, most interestingly, not just on the streets.

JG: But will limited recounts be enough to resolve the situation? The, the, the protestors presumably will not accept the result of the recounts.

DM: Well I don’t think there’s anything presumably about the situation. This is uncharted territory. It’s territory that speaks to the very basic demands of the Iranian people for their Government to live up to the words of their constitution. I think in that context the fact that a investigation has been called is important, is significant, but as you say a seven to day, seven to ten day investigation could be time for the protest to dissipate.

However, I’ve just spoken to our Ambassador in Tehran and he reports very significant, hundreds of thousands of people still on the streets, not just in Tehran, but elsewhere in the country. And I think it’s very, very important that from the outside we keep saying first that it’s for the Iranians to choose their own Government, secondly that we deplore the violence that has existed and has taken place, notably the killings, and thirdly that we hold fast to the point that there remains a hand outstretched to Iran, it can assert its rights as long as it’s willing to accept its responsibilities in the international community.

JG: What do you say to the fact that Iran has now put such tough restrictions on foreign journalists? What does that indicate? It, it always would seem to be a sign of a regime trying to cover something up?

DM: Well I think that is a very good point. I’m not here to do a political broadcast for the BBC, but there’s no doubt that the independence and clarity of the BBC Farsi service, an important innovation of the BBC World Service, has been a vital resource for many, many Iranians and that’s been cut off. Equally journalists from other news organisations are having restrictions, there are the well described blockages on SMS and email contact. I gather internet speeds have been reduced to an absolute snail’s crawl, and that obviously speaks to a clampdown. And a clampdown is one half of the coin, the other half of the coin is violence against protestors and I think for an educated, civilised historic civilisation like Iran the openness to, of debate that we saw in the final days of the election campaign was really striking and a tribute to Iran. The contrast with the violence and the clampdown is very stark.

JG: When it comes to the bottom line the differences between President Ahmadinejad and Mir Hossein Mousavi, how deep do you think those differences are?

DM: I think this is a really important point for people to understand. This is not a, an election between a pro West candidate and an anti West candidate. It’s not, doesn’t fit in to that category. Mousavi was at the heart of the revolution in 1979, a close colleague of Ayatollah Khomeini. Where his differences are with President Ahmadinejad are about the way Ahmadinejad has steered the economy and the way he has failed to steer social reform and this is a country where sixty, sixty five per cent of the people are under the age of thirty, they’re very well educated, they are, they’re the highest number of bloggers per head of population in the world. They want to be part of a, an open debate and they’re seeing that blocked and Mousavi has been the repository of that.

I think on international relations you, during the course of the campaign you saw very little difference between the candidates. President Obama has spoken I think rightly today, not just about the caution that needs to be exercised by foreign powers, but also about the fact that on foreign policy there was very little difference between the candidates. But the election does matter for the people of Iran and it will matter for the rest of us and that’s why I think the coverage is well deserved.

JG: So when you say it will matter for the rest of us do you think that Mousavi would be an easier figure for the West to deal with.

DM: I don’t think you can say that, no. I think that at this stage it’s an open question. What we know is that President Ahmadinejad has taken up very strident, not just political positions, but rhetorical positions. But I think it’s too early to say what a, a Mousavi presidency would mean, not least because it’s very, very important that people remember that the key decisions on foreign policy are made by the Supreme Leader, not by the President of the country. And that’s why I think that it’s important that people don’t get confused by the debate that’s happening. It’s does matter above all for internal policy, but in terms of foreign policy the Supreme Leader is going to remain absolutely key.

JG: And just a, a quick final thought from you on the situation that we’re seeing in Northern Ireland, I, I know you’ve spoken today about the situation for the Romanians who have been hounded out of their homes. What, what do you think that that says and reflects about community relations in, in Belfast in particular?

DM: Well I think I’ve got to be very careful not having recently visited Belfast, not having talked to people there about the immediate incidents that have happened. I think there are two points I’d make for your viewers.

First, under the accession agreement that Romania has for the European Union and for their ability to travel, the number of people who come to the UK is actually less than the quota that was set, so we haven’t been turning away hordes of Romanians. Secondly I am not an expert and haven’t been given expert advice by people on the ground about the economic and social situation in the part of Belfast where the Romanian community was situated. What I think’s important to say is that these islands for hundreds of years have benefited from people coming, playing by the rules and contributing to our economy.

We have a very, and our society, we have a very clear principle in the Government that if you, if you’re willing to play by the rules, if you’re willing to pay taxes, if you’re willing to work and contribute to our society, then you’re welcome here. And I think anything that sends the opposite message, that suggests that people are not welcome here, would be a grave step backwards for the, for our country.

JG: David Miliband thank you very much for talking to us here on BBC News this evening.

DM: Thank you.