EU MEPs cancel Iran visit in row over activists

A planned visit to Iran by five Euro MPs was cancelled Saturday after Tehran refused to let them meet with a jailed activist and a filmmaker who won a European human rights prize, a source at the European parliament and the Iranian media reported. "The five MEPs were about to leave for Tehran when delegation chair (Tarja) Cronberg received a phone call from the Iranian ambassador to the EU, saying they would not be allowed to meet with the two Sakharov Prize winners," jailed lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and filmmaker  Jafar Panahi, the source said. Sotoudeh, 47, is in jail serving an 11-year sentence for conspiring against state security. Panahi, 52, is under house arrest and has been banned from making films for 20 years. The two were awarded the European 2012 Sakharov Prize on Friday. "The Islamic Republic of Iran categorically rejected any pre-conditions. Therefore this visit has been cancelled," the Young Journalists Club, an affiliate of the state broadcaster, reported on its website. The ISNA news agency quoted Hossein Sheikholeslam, international affairs advisor to the speaker of parliament, as saying that Iran had "rejected a pre-condition set by the European parliamentary delegation to meet with two prisoners". "If the delegation agrees to visit Iran under the initially agreed conditions and agenda, then there is no objection to the visit... But we cannot accept the current pre-condition." Sheikholeslam told the Mehr news agency that the delegation had sought to "meet with two political prisoners and give them their awards". Iran has cracked down on both since its disputed June 2009 presidential election. Sotoudeh, a leading human rights campaigner known for her work representing opposition activists, and Panahi, a filmmaker acclaimed at international festivals for his gritty, socially critical movies, were jointly awarded the European parliament human rights and democracy prize. The delegation of lawmakers had been due to make a six-day visit to Tehran from Saturday. European Parliament President Martin Schulz had said Friday that the delegation would seek to meet Sotoudeh and Panahi and that the visit would be cancelled otherwise.