Emily Thornberry condemned after claiming Labour cannot support Iran protesters
2 min read
Emily Thornberry has been condemned after she said Labour cannot support anti-government protesters in Iran because it was unclear who were "the guys with white hats" in the conflict.
The Shadow Foreign Secretary said it was “very difficult” to work out what the "political forces are behind the current disputes on the streets of Iran".
At least 21 people have been killed and around 450 arrested since protests against the Iran's theocratic regime broke out across the country last month.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn - who has carried out paid work for a TV station backed by the Iranian government in the past - has been criticised for failing to say anything in public about the situation.
But appearing on the BBC's Political Thinking podcast, Ms Thornberry defended her party's failure to support those protesting against Iran's authoritarian government.
She said: "Our approach now is one of extreme caution when it comes to Iran, and a recognition that the society in Iran is a immensely complex one, and seemingly contradictory.
"For example, with these current riots, sometimes they are...calling to reinstate the monarchy, sometimes they’re calling out against the Khomeni, sometimes they’re calling for Khomeni, sometimes they’re calling for the price of eggs.
"It’s very difficult, in those circumstances to actually come to a conclusion as to what political forces are behind the current disputes on the streets of Iran, so we take a cautious approach."
She added: "We don’t want to leap to judgement and say, 'well we don’t like the regime in Iran, these people are against it, they must be the guys with white hats', because it doesn’t work like that.
"We’ve seen that in Syria, we’ve seen it in Libya, we see it time and time again in Egypt...we cannot simply impose our views on people who are fighting against, you know, Mubarak, who we don’t like.”
But Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, chair of the cross-party Foreign Affairs Committee, said Labour's position was "extraordinary".
Mr Tugendhat said it was "hardly a knee jerk reaction" to condemn the Iranian regime, which he claimed had been brutalising women and murdering gay people for 40 years.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has urged the Iranian leaders to “debate the legitimate and important issues” raised by the protesters.
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