Spokesman Raps Political Move to Award Nobel Peace Prize to Iranian Convict
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Foreign Ministry of Iran denounced the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s “spiteful and politically-motivated” decision to award the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize to an Iranian woman who is imprisoned for committing criminal acts.
In a statement on Friday night, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said Iran, as a founder of the United Nations, has always stressed the establishment of genuine peace in the region and the whole world.
He said Iran has always tried to strengthen the culture of peace but it never wants peace and its establishment to be abused.
Kanaani further said the Nobel Peace Committee has awarded its peace prize to someone who has been found guilty of frequently violating the law and engaging in criminal acts.
“We condemn the move by the Nobel committee as spiteful and politically motivated,” he said, the Foreign Ministry’s website reported.
Kanaani added that what the Nobel Peace Committee did was a political move in line with the meddlesome and anti-Iran policy of some European governments, including the government hosting the headquarters of the Nobel Peace Committee, which shows its disappointing deviation from its primary goals and the use of the committee as a tool.
The spokesman underlined that the statement of the committee was riddled with false and counterfactual claims about Iran's developments, which is an indication of the policy of some European governments to falsify news and produce misguided and deviant narratives about Iran's internal developments.
Kanaani noted that the Iranian people have, for more than four decades, witnessed political and economic pressures including the economic and inhumane terrorism of some Western countries against them, while self-styled defenders of human rights never dare to condemn these crimes or pay tribute to the Iranian people's unparalleled resistance against the oppressive and inhumane sanctions that are contrary to the international obligations of the West.
Kanaani said the latest move by the Nobel Peace Committee is another link in the chain of pressures from the West against Iran, which has no result other than the determination of the Iranian people to pursue its independent policy. “Of course, this unconventional and selective approach will never be erased from the memory of free thinkers,” he added.
He stressed Iran's cause of establishing peace and justice throughout the world in light of effective and friendly cooperation and peaceful coexistence among nations.
Kanaani advised the Nobel Peace Committee to award the Nobel Peace Prize to individuals or organizations that sincerely seek to promote the culture of peace and justice in the world and among nations instead of serving as a tool to implement the hypocritical policies of some Western countries.
In a political move, the Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday awarded Narges Mohammadi, 51, the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, saying she has been fighting "against the oppression of women" in Iran and fighting to "promote human rights and freedom for all."
Mohammadi has been in and out of jail for much of her adult life and is currently serving a prison term in Tehran's Evin prison, Press TV reported.