An activist from the Iranian exiled opposition canceled a meeting at the Foreign Office and accused the federal government of attempted censorship. She was told that the meeting should be kept secret and that she should not mention it in the media or on social media, wrote Masih Alinejad on the platform X (formerly Twitter).
The German government is helping the Islamic Republic of Iran to silence dissidents. The Federal Government’s Human Rights Commissioner, Luise Amtberg, reacted irritably. Before the planned meeting, confidentiality was agreed upon and both sides agreed to this, she explained on X.
“I was looking forward to an open and honest exchange with Masih Alinejad today,” wrote the Green politician, which is why she invited him to the Foreign Ministry. “In my experience, confidential conversations are more substantive,” she continued. She regrets that Alinejad made publication of the content of the meeting a condition.
“I am a women’s rights activist and I stand for transparency,” wrote Alinejad. “How ironic that the German government, with its feminist foreign policy, wants to meet with other feminists, but only in secret.” She canceled the meeting with the German government “because they tried to censor me.”
Criticism from Röttgen
CDU foreign policy expert Norbert Röttgen criticized the ministry: “While this woman is brave enough to take on the Islamic regime of Iran, the Foreign Office is too cowardly to publicly stand with her,” he wrote on Twitter. This is shameful. “The people of Iran want freedom. They want to get rid of the regime. The least we have to do is listen to them and make life as difficult as possible for the mullahs.”
The women’s rights activist Alinejad is a well-known voice of the Iranian exile opposition. For example, she was one of the signatories of a Charter for a Democratic Iran published in March. During her visit to Berlin she met several German politicians, including Röttgen and, on Wednesday, Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir. “We talked about universal human rights, Islamism in
