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vendredi 31 juillet 2015

France / Iran: Voluntary Servitude Woos Triumphant Resistance




After painstaking demonstrations of fealty to Washington and Tel Aviv, the French Foreign minister Laurent Fabius is trying a new experiment: creeping into Tehran, as he did this July 29th. Fate would have it that it was Haemophilia Week in Iran. Not being, contrary to France, under occupation or under the Guardianship of Big Brother (be it the government, the media or the people), no one in the Islamic Republic has forgotten the infected blood scandalof Mr Fabius (300 Iranian victims, 4000 French), nor his pro-Israeli servility during negotiations on the nuclear issue, nor his open support to terrorism in Syria against the worthy President Bashar al-Assad about whom he unprecedentedly ventured the opinion that he "does not deserve to be on Earth"... And the Iranian media and social networks abundantly spoke of him, indignant at the arrival of an avowed enemy.


President François Hollande, fearing a hostile reception for his minister, again played the braggart, daring to mention the visit as a post-nuclear deal reliability test for Iran: can we believe that anyone in Tehran is that concerned about it? As noted by the Syrian President, the voice of France is now more insignificant than ever, and nobody, not even its own people, cares about it. If the Imam Khomeini could, in 1988, address the USSR as a relic of the past and pointedly turn his back on the emissary of the Soviet Union, in front of the cameras, what about the way in which the Iran of today, incarnation of the triumphant resistance, may consider this Voluntary Servitude personified, which has been reduced to oblivion, relegated in the darkest dungeons of the march of history by its most ill-inspired strategic choices? One could say that this is the most striking display of opposites, the pinnacle of courage, dignity and foresightedness receiving the most pathetic, spineless and retarded state.

It
's a safe bet that that Mr Fabius, whose place should rather be at the International Criminal Court for condoning and supporting terrorism, won’t be quite so proud when addressing the Iranian officials who deign to receive him. But all the demonstrations of servility and obsequiousness will not change anything, and French companies wishing to settle in Iran can already thank the frenzied collaborationism of their government members and their vocation as doormats, which leads them to incessantly flout national interests. There was a French political-economic delegation to Havana (during which Fidel Castro condescended, at the last moment, to meet the ectoplasm Hollande), but there will be none in Tehran!

Great Iranian nation, many a people worldwide – first of which the oppressed Syrian people, up to very significant margins of French people who disapprove of their government to an unprecedented degree in history – thank you to welcome this criminal in a fitting manner, and allow them, for a moment, to breathe something other than a contaminated air of vain boasting, ignorance and baseness!

The article of the Middle East Monitor
reproduced below did not include these illustrations, to which it only referred to : would the « country of Voltaire » and millions of Charlies appreciate such cartoons – more of which can be found here? Thus, we can enjoy the creative verve of the Iranian people, who had already organized a competition for cartoonsof the Holocaust in protest against cartoons of the Prophet, and more recently, a cartoon contest ofDaech/ISIS. France should definitely learn from Iran!


Translated from French by Jenny Bright

Fabius visit stirs bad blood in Iran



Summary: France’s foreign minister is finding out that a deal with Iran is not enough of a Band-Aid to repair the damage a previous scandal has done to his reputation in the country.

Author Arash KaramiPosted July 23, 2015 

After a landmark nuclear deal between Iran and five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany that would reduce Iran’s nuclear program for sanctions relief, trade between Iran and Europe is expected to resume. Germany's economy minister, Sigmar Gabriel, has already visited Tehran, and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius announced that he would visit next week. Despite Fabius saying that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif invited him, some in Iran met the announcement of the trip by Fabius with harsh reactions.


 “Next week, when Fabius travels to Tehran, it also happens to be Support of Hemophilia week, and this is in remembrance of losing our compatriots to the infected blood that was imported [to] our country. And the main cause of that was Fabius,” Iranian analyst Mojtaba Zolnour said to Fars News on July 23.

Zolnour’s reference is to an account in the 1980s that many Western media are unaware of. In 1999, former Prime Minister Fabius and an ex-minister were acquitted of manslaughter for delaying the testing of blood meant to treat patients of hemophilia. Health Minister Edmond Herve was convicted but was never sentenced. While a US company's blood screening was available at the time, the French government was accused of waiting for a French competitor to conduct the tests. The case arose when in 1991 French doctor and journalist Anne-Marie Casteret accused the three of knowingly distributing blood tainted with HIV in 1984 and 1985.


According to Iran’s Ministry of Health, approximately 300 Iranians were infected with the tainted blood. Despite the acquittal, which some of the 4,000 French victims were angered by, some Iranians have not forgotten the affair. 

Zolnour added that the blood was shipped to Iran at a time when the French were supporting Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq War. Zolnour, however, added that he is not opposed to the trip by Fabius, saying, “The officials must be aware that an enemy is entering the country and the interests, dignity and strength of the country must be protected and we must not get excited to see a Western official.”

 

Jahan News, addressing the alleged French hard line in the nuclear talks, wrote, “Laurent Fabius is a familiar name for Iranians. This familiarity is not just related to the negotiations of the last two years and his putting a stick in the wheel [of the negotiations] and service to Arabs and Zionists in these talks, but this familiarity goes to his time as prime minister.” Jahan News then recounted the role of Fabius in the blood scandal.
Jahan News wrote that the first record of any AIDS patient in Iran was after the polluted blood was given to Iran. The article also lamented that Fabius was making the trip despite his never having apologized for the scandal, noting that France has not offered Iran compensation. According to Fars News, Iran is the only country that has not received compensation from France. Ali Saberi, a lawyer for the victims, told Mehr News that the Iranian government never filed a complaint.

         

Iranian social media were less forgiving. Many shared a black and white picture of Fabius with a bloodstained tie and a “WANTED” tag just above his name. Others shared a picture of a smiling Fabius with bloodstained hands.





Arash Karami covers Iranian media for Al-Monitor. On Twitter: @thekarami