AN IRISH mother and her two children were evacuated from Tehran as the Middle East crisis worsens.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has been working with Irish citizens in Israel and Iran to get them home safely as war tears apart the Middle East.
Overnight on Sunday, a mother and her two children were evacuated from Iran with the help of Irish diplomats.
It will take a number of days for the family to reach Ireland with European countries assisting Irish diplomats in getting the mam and her two kids out of Iran.
This follows the evacuation of 15 Irish citizens from Israel on Sunday.
This group of Irish people were unable to be flown out of Israel as the skies remain closed to any non-military planes.
The group were driven to the border before being flown home in an operation led by officials from Austria.
Tanaiste Simon Harris today hit out at Trump for bombing Iran’s nuclear sites as he accused the American President of adding fuel to the fire in the Middle East.
The Fine Gael leader said that “nobody in the EU wants to see Iran with a nuclear weapon” but claimed the best way forward was through a negotiated settlement.
Asked about the US bombings on Iran, the Tanaiste said: “There are international laws that say you shouldn’t do this.
“I am also very clear that actually the actions of the US added a significant level of danger to an already volatile situation.
“It was a very unhelpful intervention.
“While there will be I’m sure different views and different perspectives, the reality is this – the only way I believe to make progress in relation to this and to stop and already tinderbox type of situation getting worse is to get back to a negotiated situation.”
He accused the US of adding “a huge layer of extra volatility and danger” to the situation in the Middle East.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin said Ireland “would have preferred dialogue and diplomacy” instead of America’s bomb attack on Iran’s nuclear base.
However, the Fianna Fail leader said Iran was a “malign actor in the Middle East for quite some time and even got involved in the Ukraine war by providing drones”.
‘MALIGN ACTOR’
Asked if he thought the US had breached international law by bombing Iran, the Taoiseach said: “Ireland is multi-materialist. We believe in the international rules-based order.
“In that sense, we would have preferred dialogue and diplomacy in relation to the nuclear issue in Iran.
“This has been an issue for quite a number of decades now. Iran has been a malign actor in the Middle East for quite some time.
“They even got involved in the Ukraine war by providing drones and so forth. In particular, its support of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis and its declaration of its position of destroying Israel openly declared makes for a very complex scenario in the Middle East.”
‘HUGE DANGER’
The Taoiseach urged world leaders not to let the war with Iran to distract from Israel’s actions in Gaza where children are being bombed or starved in an ongoing onslaught.
He said: “There is a huge danger that Gaza will be sidelined and marginalised in terms of the international profile.
“The continuing loss of life in Gaza is appalling. The number of children who are facing malnutrition, death from malnutrition is simply unconscionable.
“The international community needs to maintain its focus on ending the war in Gaza and allowing for the huge surge in humanitarian aid in and the release of all hostages and the commencement of the reconstruction of Gaza and the peace process there.”
‘NOT WAITING ANY LONGER’
It comes as the Government will on Tuesday move to ban trade between Ireland and occupied territories in Palestine as Tanaiste Simon Harris declared: ‘Ireland is not waiting any longer.’
The Occupied Territories Bill was originally tabled by Independent Senator Frances Black in 2018 in a bid to ban trade between Ireland and illegally occupied parts of other countries – mainly aimed at Israeli settlements in Palestine.
However, successive governments have delayed the legislation due to “legal issues” with Simon Harris due to put forward a watered down version of the Bill at Cabinet today.
The new Israeli Settlements Prohibition of Importation of Goods Bill will make it illegal to trade goods with illegal Israeli settlements but not services – meaning tech and finance businesses still have the green light.
TOO SLOW TO SANCTION
Tanaiste Simon Harris today criticised the EU for being too slow to sanction Israel over their attacks on Gaza as he said Ireland will not wait any longer.
He said: “Just to get ahead of anybody who thinks I’m not clear on this, I am very open to considering the issue of services, but we do need to have legal clarity on whether that’s possible or not.
“I’ve asked the Attorney General I relation to that but I will bring draft legislation because we’re not waiting in Ireland.
“We’re not waiting. The children of Gaza have waited far too long. I’m a big fan of the EU. I think the EU has been the greatest peace project ever.
‘CONSEQUENCES MUST FLOW’
“I’m really, really a big fan of the EU. I’m very proud we’re core members of the EU but our response in relation to Gaza has been much too slow and far too many people have been left to die as genocide has been carried out.”
Tanaiste Simon Harris met with EU Foreign Affairs Ministers in Brussels today where they discussed Israel’s association agreement with Europe.
Israel are in breach of the human rights clauses in the trade agreement with the EU, with the Tanaiste calling for all trade to be paused due to this.
He said: “It’s not good enough to just say someone is in breach and it’s a consequence-free zone.
“If a review finds a breach, then consequences must flow from that and the rationale for consequences is this – it is to try and change behaviour.
“It is to use every lever at our disposal to make the horrific actions in Gaza stop.”
