Austria Erodes Own Claimed Neutrality
By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer
The Free World has long doubted the so-called neutrality of Austria and other European non-aligned claimants.
Vienna shamelessly dropped its fig leaf by bowing to the dictates of the criminal US regime of Donald Trump by denying visa to the Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Eslami and his delegation for attending the annual general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),
Austria was taken to task and its charge d’affaires in Tehran summoned to the foreign ministry to convey the Islamic Republic’s strong protest to the regime in Vienna.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baqaie called the measure “completely unjustified”, saying the enemies “are seeking to prevent Iran’s voice from reaching the world.”
He added that Austria’s claim that it took this action under US pressure “does not absolve the host government of responsibility,”
Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Reza Najafi, addressing the conference on Monday rightly termed it a “serious violation” of the Islamic Republic’s rights as an IAEA member.
He said that preventing the head of the Iranian delegation from attending the conference violated the principle of sovereign equality enshrined in Article IV, Paragraph C of the IAEA Statute that guarantees equal rights for all members and their enjoyment of the benefits of membership.
Independent IAEA members also castigated Austria for sacrificing its claimed neutrality on the US altar.
“Outrageous,” said Russia’s Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna by condemning the blocking of the AEOI head from the 70th session of IAEA General Conference that started Monday and ends on Friday.
Mikhail Ulyanov deplored that Mohammad Eslami’s visa was unceremoniously revoked by Austria in violation of the IAEA charter and its own claimed neutrality.
After decades of supposed neutrality, Vienna now stands exposed as a US-Israeli puppet slavishly serving imperialist interests against the Free World, especially against the Islamic Republic of Iran, whose nuclear project is entirely civilian, and which has inflicted shattering defeats on Donald the dastardly dotard’s attempts to attack Iran.