There was a futile attempt last Wednesday to introduce this change as a matter of routine administrative function trying to avoid a vote on this matter. But this provoked objections from a number of Euro MPs including Paulo Casaca, co-Chair of the Friends of a Free Iran parliamentary group, Elmar Brok, Chairman of the Committee for Foreign Affairs, and Michael Gahler, PP-ED Group Rapporteur on Iran. This led to referral of the case to the plenary session on the following day to be voted on.
In a joint letter by Messrs Brok and Gahler addressed to members of the European Parliament they wrote: "Tomorrow the plenary will be requested to vote on a proposal of changing the name of the ‘Delegation for relations with Iran’ to ‘Delegation for relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran.’ In view of the tense relationship between Iran and the international community we do not see the necessity to grant the current regime a diplomatic success, and to distract attention from our paramount demand that Iran will stop and refrain from uranium enrichment. We therefore sincerely request your vote against the name change of the Iran delegation."
In a separate letter to all MEPs, Mr. Casaca also stipulated: "This proposal came right after the Iranian nomination of Ahmadinejad, and was presented to the delegation as a pre-condition for the continuation of any sort of relations with this country. To support it, is to give a clear political sign of good-will and support to this barbarian dictatorship." He then urged the members: "For the sake of a free and democratic Iran, for the sake of peace and stability in the World, please, vote NO to the proposal."
The plan suffered a massive defeat when a huge majority of the members voted no at the plenary on Thursday after several MEPs spoke against the proposed change.
Following the regime’s failed attempt to win a political gain, Mr. Casaca issued a statement which reiterated that this "reflects the grass root feelings of the vast majority of the members of the European Parliament that do not agree with the appeasement policies of the European leaderships to the islamo-fascist dictatorship."