The visit, featuring Mohammad Baqer Khorramshad, Deputy Foreign Minister in Science and Research Affairs, was to be organized jointly by the Netherlands Institute of International Relations (Clingendael) and the Iranian regime’s embassy in the Hague.
According to the director of external affairs for the institute, Mrs. Anna Gans, “The event scheduled for September 17 has been cancelled by the Iranian embassy.”
The planned visit had provoked extensive protests by Iranian exiles in the Netherlands in recent days. A group of Iranian youths had released a statement entitled “Clingendael, an advocate of dictators.” It also featured a cartoon showing the Iranian regime and the institute shaking hands motivated by economic interests.
This is not the first time during the past year that a planned visit by an Iranian regime official has led to protests in the Netherlands. In June, a visit by Ezatollah Zarghami, the head of the state-run TV and Radio, was cancelled after growing objections by Iranian exiles.