I met with Mr. Rushdie in Dublin on 11 December. We had a friendly and constructive meeting at which Mr. Rushdie outlined his concern about the continuing threat to his life posed by the fatwa. I briefed Mr. Rushdie on the efforts which the Irish Presidency has made to arrive at a satisfactory resolution with the Iranian Government, following on the efforts made during the last three Presidencies of the EU. While some progress has been made, we have not reached the stage where we could claim that there has been any breakthrough. Mr. Rushdie's statement of 11 December reflects understandable disappointment on his part that it has not been possible so far to achieve a satisfactory resolution of this issue. I would hope that the work we have done will help bring a solution closer during the Dutch semester.
The main thrust of the European Union's efforts to resolve the issue of the fatwa against Salman Rushdie takes place in the context of its critical dialogue with Iran. I do not accept that the critical dialogue continues due to trade concerns rather than any moral objective. The European Union's position is that — since its establishment at the Edinburgh European Council in December 1992 — the critical dialogue has provided a useful mechanism for consultation between the EU and Iran on a range of issues, including the threat against the life of Mr. Rushdie, the Middle East peace process, international terrorism, non-proliferation and regional issues. The European Union will continue to take advantage of its Critical Dialogue with Iran in order to defend fundamental rights and freedom of expression, including the issue of the fatwa against Salman Rushdie.
As regards membership of the World Trade Organisation, Ireland is in favour of the maximum number of countries being bound by the rules of the multilateral trading system as represented by the World Trade Organisation. This approach also applies in the case of Iran.
