Azerbaijan, Baku, July 8 / Trend , D.Khatinoglu /
The fact that the G8 countries have been unable to reach a common view on Iran shows that there are differences amongst the G8countries, as well as European states.
Today (July 8) the summit of Heads of G8 states begins in Italy. Prior to the summit, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said that the heads of G8 countries have not yet been able to reach a unified position to make a decision in connection with the violence committed against participants in demonstrations in Iran.
"Tensions have repeatedly been recorded in the relations of Iran and Europe. As before, the current tension also did not lead to the break in relations," a member of the Council on Political Sciences of Tehran University, professor Ahmad Naghibzadeh, told Trend by telephone from Tehran on July 8.
He said that Europe takes different positions on Iran. "This, on the one hand, shows the weakness of Europe, on the other hand, is based on the commitment of this community before the United States," - said Naghibzadeh.
Summit of Heads of G8 states will be held on July 8-10 in the Akvila city in Italy. At the summit, the main topic of discussions will be the situation in Iran, said Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi to last week's press conference. He said that the summit will apply new sanctions against Iran.
On July 7, Human Rights Watch called upon G8 Heads of State to condemn the pressure on the participants of demonstrations in Iran. In its turn, Iran accused the West of creating tension in the country. Two days earlier, a French citizen who worked at the University of Tehran was arrested upon charges of espionage. Prior to this, nine Iranian nationals who worked at the embassy of Great Britain were arrested, of whom eight were freed.
According to Naghibzadeh, European countries want to use Iran to prevent the strengthening of U.S. influence in the Middle East. However, they do not want a war. If there is war, the European countries will support the United States.
Western countries are still not aware of the people and government of Iran, Deputy Chairman of the Commission on National Security of the Iranian Parliament Esmail Kosari told Trend last week. "The West is concerned over the temporary tension in Iran. Human rights issues are domestic affairs of Iran," he said.
However, Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi believes that the human rights have no borders. "International organizations must express their protest against the widespread and grave violations of human rights in Iran," Ebadi told Trend formerly.
According to Naghibzadeh, the West has a wrong notion on the Iranian regime. "It needs to accept the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran or not. The third one is not necessary. The regime in Iran is ideological, and changing it as the West wants is not possible," he said.
He said officials of Iran believe to be able to use the rivalry between the U.S. and Europe in their favor, and partly achieving it, they were able to get a little time.
Existing tensions between Tehran and Europe resulted from a protest against human rights violations in Iran, Naghibzadeh said. "In fact, the question of human rights is not so important for the West, it only wants to squeeze Iran, but it is useless. The leaders of Iran will not yield to the West, nor give it any advantages," he said.
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Europe is hesitant over Iran: Tehran University professor
