Taoiseach Micheál Martin has expressed support for further sanctions against Iran and cautioned that outside military intervention could be counterproductive, as the violent crackdown against protesters by the Islamic regime continued into a third week.
The EU is currently considering further economic sanctions. US president Donald Trump has said he will intervene militarily if the Iranian regime shoots at protesters.
Latest estimates from the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency indicate 503 protesters and 69 security personnel have died and 10,694 people have been arrested.
The Taoiseach described the Iranian regime as “repressive, anti-democratic, authoritarian” and said it has “undermined the rights of women for quite a long time”.
But he said he would prefer additional sanctions, which continue to have an economic impact. “I think the outside world needs to be very careful that we don’t, indirectly, if you like, give succour to the administration,” he said on Monday.
“The future of Iran belongs to the people of Iran, and we need to make sure any support is mobilised behind the people, that the authorities there don’t get excuses to try and rally people behind their cause because of external influences or external attacks”.
[ Trump weighs response options as fatal Iranian protests continueOpens in new window ]
He said countries contemplating intervention needed “to weigh up very carefully the import and impact of decisions of that kind”.
Speaking in Cork, the Taoiseach said the US authorities have significant intelligence on the ground. “They have an understanding of what’s going on there as well, but it would seem to me that sometimes moving in can actually be counterproductive, basically.”
Labour foreign affairs spokesman Duncan Smith said “the unpredictability of Trump and the United States means that any incidents like this are fraught with escalation at a local, regional and global scale”.
The repressive violence by Iranian authorities “is happening whilst the wider region is still grappling with violence and instability, and the memory of the missile strikes between Israel and Iran are still fresh in the memory”, he said.
The latest protests began over a soaring cost-of-living crisis and represent the most significant challenge to the power of the clerical regime since the revolution against the Shah of Iran in 1979.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said: “We support the uprising in Iran against the dictatorial regime.
“The bloody crackdown is horrifying and we are in solidarity with the protesters. We are utterly opposed to any intervention by the US or Israel and those who would want to see a return to the dictatorship of the Shah.
“Instead we want to see a revolutionary movement to allow the people of Iran to determine their own fate and to control the natural resources.”
Sinn Féin foreign affairs spokesperson Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire also condemned the violence and repression against protesters and called on the Iranian government “to respect the right of protesters to demonstrate”.
[ Who is the exiled crown prince encouraging demonstrations across Iran?Opens in new window ]
Social Democrats spokeswoman Senator Patrician Stephenson said “Iran’s brutal crackdown on protesters is deeply concerning and warrants the strongest possible condemnation and intervention by the international community”.
Meanwhile, the Taoiseach also reiterated Ireland’s support for Denmark when asked about Mr Trump’s repeated comments about acquiring Greenland.
He said the US always had a military base there, at one point with 10,000 troops but now reduced to about 200.
“Engagement in my view does not necessitate any acquisition of that kind. Greenland is under the control of Denmark and we are fellow member states of the EU. We support Denmark on that issue.”
Mr Martin insisted there would be no role for Irish soldiers in any Greenland deployment after reports emerged that both Germany and the UK were considering deploying troops to Greenland amid concerns of a possible US military intervention.
“No, we are peacekeepers – the issue in Greenland, I don’t anticipate that. That is a completely different issue.”