Former Prime Minister Alfred Sant told the European Parliament in Strasbourg that it is up to the Iranian people to decide about their national systems and emphasised that the European Union should not repeat its mistakes in Iraq and in Libya which were disastrous for both countries and for Europe.  

The Maltese MEP made these remarks when explaining his vote in favour of the Howitt resolution “EU strategy towards Iran after the nuclear agreement”.  This report came as a conclusion for the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, in which the EU played a vital role, that marked an important milestone in resetting the country’s relations with the West. The report advocates expanding EU-Iran trade, calls for EU efforts to ease tensions between Tehran and Riyadh and urges the country to suspend use of the death penalty. UK S&D member Richard Howitt is the author of the report.

"My vote in favour this report  is conditioned by the following: Nothing in the text should be understood now or in the future as tending to encourage the EU or its member states to include regime change as a component of their policy towards Iran. Evident or implied criticism of the Iranian government’s internal and external policies should be taken as defining the parameters within which the European Union will undertake cooperation on all fronts with Iran. In no way should it be taken to mean that the EU proposes to intervene in Iran’s internal processes to influence decisions and policies there. Even when the EU makes critical submissions to Iranian authorities about their decisions and policies, such submissions will be made in good faith. It is up to the Iranian people to decide about their national systems. Where in the past, the European Union and its member states have supported or been a party to policies that were intended to promote regime change, results have been disastrous, both for the countries concerned and for Europe. The examples of Iraq and Libya stand out in this context,' Dr Sant said.