Kofi annan continues to serve as a prominent spokesman for the Iranian regime. at a June 22nd press briefing in Geneva, where the new Human Rights Council was meeting, the UN Secretary General reported with a straight face his conclusion, based on his discussions with Iranian Foreign Minister Motaki, that "Iran is considering the offer of negotiations on its nuclear energy plans made by the Permanent Members of the Security Council and Germany. I believe it is considering this offer very seriously…They are considering the package very, very seriously. I think we have all heard the comments they have made, and I do believe they are considering it seriously." Contrast this with Iranian President Mahmoud ahmadinejad's statement the day before that Iran would announce its response to the proposal sometime in late august. a senior Iranian official, who was quoted in the New York Times on condition of anonymity, said "We already have the capability to enrich uranium and we can hide a small pilot program anywhere underground if they put too much pressure on us." Given Iran's past record of lies and deception, no doubt they are presently hiding a whole lot more. Whenever they decide to come back with an answer, we can expect at best that they will claim the proposal needs more clarification. Then they will say they need even more time for further consideration of the responses to their questions, while the doomsday clock ticks on.
How long will annan play Iran's tune of ‘trust us, we really want to negotiate'? They have been stringing the Europeans along for several years and are now happily doing it again, while their nuclear program moves ahead towards a point of no return.
Meanwhile, at the very same press briefing where he sought to put lipstick on the pig that constitutes Iran's negotiating strategy over the nuclear issue, annan blew off a question regarding Iran's decision to send Tehran's Chief Prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, as a delegate to the Human Rights Council. Mortazavi has allegedly been involved in major human rights violations including torture of dissidents, and has been implicated in the death of an Iranian-Canadian photojournalist while she was in Iranian custody. Instead of finally using the opportunity afforded to him to denounce Iran's continued mockery of human rights, annan blandly responded that "it will not come as a surprise to you that as Secretary-General of the UN, I have no say in the composition of national delegations. That is a decision for each individual Government to make. I am not aware of the individual you have referred to." Totally oblivious to the irony in the situation, he praised the launching of the new Human Rights Council and urged the member states to "take steps that reinforce and strengthen human rights" while ignoring entirely the elephant in the room - the senior level representation of Iran at the Human Rights Council by an alleged serial human rights abuser.
There is nothing new here regarding Kofi annan's legitimization of this rogue regime. Indeed, annan has used his appointment power in the past to reward Iran on a number of occasions, such as appointing its representatives to sit on the alliance of Civilizations UN panel and the UN's Working Group on Internet Governance.
annan has also glossed over Iran's record of supporting terrorism. During a one day visit to Iran in 2002, annan absolved the terrorist sponsoring regime that was hosting him of any ties to al Qaeda. He declared that "[Iranians] have no love for al Qaeda and have no ideological, religious or political support for it…"It would be odd that suddenly they endorse it." Why did annan go out of his way to make that point — for which he had no basis other than taking Iran's own word for it — and leave out the indisputable fact that Iran has been a state sponsor of terrorist organizations, such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad, to whom Iran's leaders have outsourced the killing of innocent people all over the world?
Whether it is nuclear build-up, human rights or sponsorship of terrorism, Kofi annan uses his soapbox to legitimize Iran's denials of wrongdoing. Perhaps he is grooming himself for a new career after his term as Secretary General expires — serving as Iran's chief propagandist.
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