Iran working to open embassy in Myanmar

Iran is working to open an embassy in Myanmar, says a spokesman for Iran’s Majlis Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy.

Seyyed Hossein Naqavi-Hosseini said on Saturday that the government of Myanmar has taken into consideration Iran’s offer to establish an embassy in the country and that initial preparation have been made for that matter.

Thailand’s government has also provided great help in this regard, the Iranian lawmaker stated.

He also pointed to a recent visit by an Iranian parliamentary delegation to Myanmar and said the delegation examined the situation of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar during the visit.

Some 800,000 Rohingyas are deprived of citizenship rights due to the policy of discrimination that has denied them the right of citizenship and made them vulnerable to acts of violence and persecution, expulsion, and displacement.

The Muslim minority has faced torture, neglect, and repression in Myanmar since it achieved independence in 1948.

Hundreds of Rohingyas are believed to have been killed and thousands displaced in attacks by extremist Buddhists mainly in the western state of Rakhine.

Naqavi-Hosseini called on the Muslim world and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to take proper measures regarding the issue of Rohingyas.

The Iranian lawmaker said the parliamentary delegation had also discussed with Myanmar’s authorities ways to address the situation of the Rohingya Muslims through Iran’s embassy.