‘Peace for our time:’ A Wiesenthal Center open letter to the European Union

June 27, 2022

Dr. Shimon Samuels argued that a speech by Josep Borrell Fontelles from Tehran evoked Neville Chamberlain’s 1938 statement following his discussion with Adolf Hitler.

In a letter to Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Wiesenthal Center Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, argued that Borrell’s speech from Tehran evoked Neville Chamberlain’s 1938 statement following his discussion with Adolf Hitler: “…I return from Germany bringing peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time… Go home and get a nice quiet sleep.”

Samuels called on Borrell, “as a bi-national Spanish and Argentine citizen, to recall the role of Tehran in the Buenos Aires 1992 attack on the Israeli Embassy (29 dead and 242 injured) and the 1994 massacre of the AMIA Jewish Centre (85 dead and over 300 wounded).”

The Prosecutor of the AMIA bombing, Alberto Nisman, just days before he was murdered in 2015, had shown this writer the network of IRGC foreign intelligence “Quds Force” sleeper cells as well as Hezbollah operatives in nine Latin American countries, waiting for Iran’s orders to act.

The current JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) – a.k.a. the “Iranian nuclear deal” – is as opaque as was the “Peace for our time” Munich Agreement of 1938 and the Iranian-Argentine “Memorandum of understanding” of 2013 in exchange for “forgetting” the AMIA bombing.

Only recently, the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) revealed that its cameras set to show Tehran’s good-faith in limiting the uranium enrichment process and functional in controlling their nuclear program, were removed. Similarly, Iran refused to include control over its ballistic missile program.

There are other factors that have been ignored:

– Iran’s continued acts of piracy, in attacking tankers in the Gulf;

– Iran’s annual antisemitic caricatures competition, presenting the Holocaust as a lie;

– Iran’s support to the Hamas terror movement, whose Charter calls “to kill Jews wherever.”

As the representative of an NGO at UNESCO, I called on the Iranian Delegate to explain the hatred towards Israel, when there are no direct territorial claims. His ceremonious reply was “on behalf of the Palestinians!”

At the Frankfurt Book Fair, I asked an official at the Iranian stand, “if Israel and the Palestinians make peace, what will you do?” His response was: “We will never let it happen.”

Mr. Borrell, Hitler and his Nazi Party had seven years of power to indoctrinate millions with his ideology of hate. The Ayatollahs and their Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have had 43 years to create mayhem.

Mr. High Representative, your speech from Tehran requires some clarity:

– You mentioned “the aggression of Russia against Ukraine… that completely changed the geopolitical environment.” Yet Russia is a member of the JCPOA, but is also partnered with Iran in supporting Syria’s regime. Does the JCPOA deal mean acquiring oil and gas through Iran from a position of weakness?

– As a “consular affairs” byline, you also mentioned “the detention of European citizens here in Iran… a growing number of cases.” Are foreign nationals withheld without due process not to be considered as hostages “de facto?”

– You concluded your speech by announcing the United States is back into the JCPOA negotiation. Yet, Washington has refused Tehran’s demand to remove the IRGC from the list of terror organizations. As a means of applying some leverage, would it not be appropriate for the European Union to follow suit in adding the IRGC to its terror list?

Even more compelling, a lifting of sanctions would result in a terror bonanza dictated from Iran, even to Europe.

Mr. Borrell, to “deblock the deadlock” requires truth. To call Iran accountable would be a small token towards implementing “Peace for our time” and not sending us again “home to get a nice quiet sleep.“

For further information contact Dr. Shimon Samuels at csweurope@gmail.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).