It must be a tough job being an ambassador. You’ve got to balance the competing demands of fostering goodwill between nations and acting as a representative of your homeland’s interests. Sometimes there’s a conflict.
Spare a thought for the now ex-ambassadors of the Islamic Republic of Iran in London, Paris and Berlin who didn’t get that balance quite right:
Tehran, Oct. 28 – Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has fired his country’s ambassadors to Britain, France, and Germany, and ordered 18 envoys to be recalled to Tehran, a government official in the Iranian capital told Iran Focus.
“Ahmadinejad has been angered by what he sees as the envoys’ meek reaction to the global condemnation of his Wednesday speech against Israel and the West”, the official, who requested anonymity, said. “He made the speech with the full blessing of the Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] and has his green light to stifle any dissenting voice within the government”.
The official said that while there was broad consensus within the clergy-dominated regime on the hard-line President’s vow to “wipe Israel off the map”, some Iranian diplomats voiced concern that the international backlash could be too costly for the Islamic Republic.
Gene adds: A more encouraging sign from some Berliners.
Protesters gather as they wave Israeli flags during a
pro-Israeli rally in front of the Iranian embassy in Berlin
October 29, 2005.
