Editorial
The decisive and swift reaction by Norwegian government officials and parliament deputies to the Tehran regime’s threats over the visit to Norway by the Iranian Resistance’s President-elect Maryam Rajavi, was not only a testament to Norway’s commitment to the principles and traditions with which that country has been historically identified, but also set an example for other European countries that the only effective way to deal with the insolence exhibited by the mullahs was to exercise firmness.
In the run-up to the visit, Tehran summoned Norway’s ambassador to the Foreign Ministry and warned that the trip would have dire consequences for Tehran-Oslo relations. "The ambassador of Norway has been summoned. Diplomatic efforts are taking place. Necessary warnings are being given," Mohammad Ali Hosseini, mullahs’ Foreign Ministry spokesman told the Associated Press in Tehran
In Oslo, the mullahs’ ambassador met Olav Akselsen, Chairman of the Norwegian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. In a dispatch from Oslo, the Associated Press wrote, "The Iranian ambassador to Norway warned the Nordic nation that a meeting next week between Norwegian lawmakers and an Iranian opposition leader would carry ‘serious consequences’ for bilateral relations."
Norwegian officials, however, were not at all impressed with Tehran’s antics. Deputy Foreign Minister Raymond Johansen said neither foreign envoys nor the government could dictate whom the parliament could meet. “We do not have very warm relations with Tehran about which the Iranian regime is warning us,” he emphasized.
Norwegian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee member Morten Höglund added. "I think it is unheard of that a highly placed diplomat in Oslo can have such a lack of respect for Norwegian democracy and Parliament, and can come with such threats from a regime that is at odds with the world community in many areas and it is one of the most tyrannical that exists," Hoglund told the Associated Press.
"Such a direct threat against Norway from another country’s ambassador is extremely rare," Gerrit Loeberg, the head of security in the Parliament, told the Norwegian newspaper VG.
The unified and decisive stance by Norwegian officials was a slap to the face of the ruling clerics, whose threats completely backfired. More importantly, it reaffirmed what the Iranian Resistance had often stressed, that the mullahs understand only the language of firmness and that succumbing to their demands would have the opposite effect.
It is perhaps time that other, and more powerful, countries in Europe for once follow Norway’s example and stand up to their own principles in dealing with Tehran’s intransigence.