Iran ambassador to Ireland ceremony goes ahead after protests-related delay

By Bairbre Holmes, Press Association

The Iranian ambassador to Ireland has been presented with credentials, four months after the ceremony was postponed because of the suppression of protests in Iran.

Eshagh Alhabib presented his Letters of Credence to President Catherine Connolly at Áras an Uachtaráin on Thursday.

In January, the Department of Foreign Affairs said the decision to delay the ceremony was taken after a “significant” number of Iranian demonstrators were killed and injured.

Protests sparked by the country’s ailing economy began in late December and escalated into rallies opposing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his regime.

They continued despite the internet and telephone lines being cut off, and thousands were killed and detained in a bloody crackdown by the Revolutionary Guard.

In February, the US commenced airstrikes on the country, killing Mr Khamenei.

In a statement at the time, the Department of Foreign Affairs said: “The decision to postpone the ceremony of credentials for the Ambassador-designate of the Islamic Republic of Iran was taken in light of protests in Iran in recent days, which have seen very significant numbers of Iranians killed or injured and a communications blackout.”

Mr Alhabib was accompanied at Thursday’s ceremony by his wife and the deputy head of mission at the Iranian embassy.

The ambassadors of Portugal and India presented their Letters of Credence to the president in the same ceremony, which was also attended by Emer Higgins, a minister at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality.

The ambassadors were accompanied to and from the president’s residence by a motorcycle escort; there, they were met by an air corps guard of honour and a Defence Forces band.