Members of the Iranian parliament have found themselves under fire for “strange” behaviour involving the EU’s top diplomat, Federica Mogherini.<\/p>\n
She was in Iran for President Hassan Rouhani’s inauguration on Saturday when she found herself the centre of attention on the parliament floor.<\/p>\n
Photos showed Ms Mogherini surrounded by a number of male MPs, taking photos.<\/p>\n
Many social media users criticised the MPs, ridiculing them or labelling their actions “humiliating”.<\/p>\n
The Fars news agency posted a photo which many social media users felt showed Ms Mogherini unimpressed – and labelled the MPs’ behaviour “strange”.<\/p>\n
One MP, Alireza Salimi, called the behaviour “self-surrender to the West”, and said that a committee on the conduct of members may probe the incident – if other MPs complain that the selfies caused “contempt” for parliament.<\/p>\n
The EU has issued a number of sanctions against Iran over human rights and the country’s nuclear programme.<\/p>\n
But while Mr Salimi felt the behaviour signalled subservience towards a top Western official, many on social media ridiculed the image of men crowding Ms Mogherini.<\/p>\n
Ahmad Mazani, one of the MPs in the controversial pictures, tweeted that lawmakers had been banned “from interacting with special guests” during the ceremony – explaining the rush to crowd Ms Mogherini at its conclusion.<\/p>\n
But Twitter users remained critical, with one replying that the MPs had “embarrassed the nation”.<\/p>\n
Hesam Ashena, the cultural adviser to the president, said: “This is a cultural rather than a political problem. Every one of those esteemed MPs in that selfie should be interviewed seriously.”<\/p>\n
Sadegh Kharrazi, an adviser to reformist former President Mohammad Khatami, suggested that all Iranian MPs undergo “a training course on codes of conduct and universal moral values”.<\/p>\n
Ms Mogherini – who has built closer ties between the EU and Iran since he appointment – released a statement about the visit to Iran, but made no comment about the related controversy.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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