mr president it is an honour to be able to stand here for the first time
i expect to be here numerous times during the coming six months to address different issues
the issue on our agenda at this time is iran
before going into the substance of that issue let me just express our heartfelt condolences to iran on the occasion of the tragic accident earlier today
we sincerely regret the loss of life and express our sympathy with all of those affected by this tragedy
the issue of iran is obviously very high up on the swedish presidency's agenda
that has to do with the outcome of the election and the question marks to put it very mildly that were raised after that election as well as the political developments that we have seen since then
i think you are all aware of the fact that the european union has taken a very strong and a very principled stand when it comes to these events
we have reiterated that questions over the conduct of elections are issues for the iranian authorities to truly investigate and clarify
we have also been very clear in our response to what we have seen happening on the streets of tehran
we have condemned the crackdown the violence and the use of force that we have seen against peaceful demonstrations we condemn the crackdown against journalists media outlets communications and protestors
those are contrary not only to the norms and values that we represent but also obviously to the wishes for a more open and more reform-oriented society expressed by so many iranians
that being said we remain in our principled policy of wishing another a better a new relationship with the nation of iran
it is a rich nation that has much to contribute to the development of the world and the development of its own region and we would hope that at some point in time hopefully not too distant there will be that possibility for a truly new relationship
before concluding let me just note one issue that has been occupying us quite a lot and that is that the iranian authorities did detain a number of personalities who are staff members of european missions as well as some european nationals
we have been in constant touch with the iranian authorities over these issues
we consider possible accusations levelled against them to be baseless and i can assure you that we will continue to engage with the iranian authorities in all the ways we can until these issues are resolved in a satisfactory manner that is that the persons in question are released
