Iran denies Jordan King's visit in face of lawmakers' criticism

March 16, 2011

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi dismissed Tuesday reports on Jordanian King Abdullah II's visit to Iran for Nowruz celebrations as the government faced bitter criticism from the lawmakers over the issue.

"The Foreign Ministry will officially announce if a foreign official intends to travel to Iran," Salehi was quoted by Press TV as saying.

Also, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast dismissed the report about the visit, but said that earlier such an invitation had been forwarded to the Jordanian King.

Reportedly, in December, Head of Iran's Presidential Office Esfandiyar Rahim-Mashaei extended an invitation by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Jordan's King, inviting the monarch to visit Iran for the Iranian new year celebrations.

The Jordanian king welcomed the invitation and expressed his willingness to develop Iranian-Jordanian relations, according to Press TV.

"The invitation to the visit of Jordanian King Abdullah II is certainly against our national interests at this time given the current conditions," Chairman of Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi was quoted as saying.

"The opinion of members of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission is negative towards this visit and the majority of Majlis members also has a similar view," Boroujerdi said.

Boroujerdi said Monday that "King Abdullah is among major U.S. allies in the region. The Jordanian King has always thrown his weight behind hostile U.S. policies against Iran," according to Press TV.

In his unusually harsh criticism of the government, Boroujerdi also emphasized that King Abdullah's visit to Iran at the current juncture would institute a "political clumsiness" and warned that Iran's Majlis would show "a reaction" to the trip, Press TV said.

The trip can be used to manipulate public opinion in the region, Boroujerdi was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chairman of National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Majlis Hossein Ebrahimi strongly condemned the invitation of the Jordanian King and said "looking realistically at the current situation in the Arab world where people have revolted against their monarchs to demand their rights, we come to the understanding that such rulers are not qualified to be invited to Tehran," according to the report.

The presidential invitation has brought under question the reputation of the Islamic establishment that has expressed support for all revolutionaries and freedom-seeking people in the world, Ebrahimi was quoted as saying.

Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, also a member of National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Majlis, pointed to the " unacceptable" decision to invite King Abdullah to Tehran and said "we are witnessing popular uprisings against puppet governments in the region. Jordan is among those countries that faces popular protests," said Falahatpisheh, according to the Press TV.

Ahmad Tavakkoli, another senior Iranian lawmaker, deplored a " non-revolutionary" move to invite Jordanian King Abdullah II to pay a visit to Iran, saying it runs counter to the national interest, Press TV said.

"At a time when the Muslim world from Arab countries in the Middle East to North Africa have risen against their puppet regimes and are determined to decide the fate of the region on their own will and Islamic identity, inviting Jordanian King to attend Nowruz celebrations (in Iran) will be at odds with the interest of Muslims, regional nations and national interest of the Islamic Iran," Tavakkoli, head of the Research Center of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis), was quoted as saying on Monday.

Source: People's Daily.
Link: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/7321321.html.