I am proud too!‎
Diplomatic efforts to remove visa restrictions for Iranian subjects 

‎
By H. Hakimi
Oslo, 2003


I was inspired by a recent article about Dr Madjidi in The Iranian to write the following article. The fact is that we so called ‎Taghooties (Tagootie is a term meaning those worshipping Taghoot or Taghut which in Arabic stands for anything worshipped other than God, e.g. Satan) did our duty as best as we could towards achieving a better life for our countrymen and women, ‎in any position we held. The idea was not to only improve our lot but also for all of us to be proud of ‎whom we are namely Persians. This is particularly poignant nowadays that Iranians are treated as ‎undesirables, specifically the restriction placed by the U.S. Government on entry for Iranian subjects.‎

One of the priorities of any diplomat’s duty is to facilitate the procedure of traveling of his or her ‎countryman to other countries. The travelers should be received adequately, with due respect and dignity.‎

I was assigned to Norway as a Consular Minister from 1968 to 1973. Right from the start of my ‎assignment, I had in mind to work with the Norwegian authorities to eliminate visa regulations for the ‎subjects of the two very friendly countries.‎

After consultations with my peers in Copenhagen & Stockholm, we decided to approach the three ‎governments - to the extent possible - at the same time to request elimination of visa regulations between ‎Iran and the three Scandinavian countries.‎

We knew very well that the governments of these three countries are in constant consultation. This is done ‎in order that neither makes a decision on its own which could potentially inconvenience the others.‎

My colleagues Taghie Amid in Copenhagen and Abbas Malek Madany in Stockholm took up the task with ‎gusto and each sent a note to their respective Foreign Ministries asking for elimination of visa regulation ‎between Iran and their host country.‎

After four years of lengthy discussions with the authorities of the three Scandinavian countries, we had ‎almost given up hope. Then one day I was summoned to the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, to meet the Joint ‎Secretary for Consular Affairs. I was quite pessimistic and thought I should prepare myself for some ‎lengthy turgid arguments, which at the end we would be back where we started.‎

When I met the gentleman, after usual diplomatic niceties, he said that “You keep pressing us for ‎elimination of visa regulations, the problem is, that if we agree with your request, then the other nations ‎will want the same right for their own nationals that we can never agree”.‎

I immediately responded: “Your excellency, I think you have forgotten that you are talking to a long-‎standing carrier diplomat. You are probably aware that what you just said is an irrelevant pretext to deny ‎our request. To refresh your memory elimination of visa regulation between countries comes under the ‎jurisdiction of Exercising the Right of SOVEREIGNTY of any sovereign government and has nothing to ‎do with the provisions put forward by the Most Favored Nation Convention. You may flatly refuse our ‎request, which is your sovereign right to do so. But you cannot justify your refusal by clinging to the ‎clauses of Most Favored Nation Convention, which is absolutely irrelevant in this particular case".‎

We ended the meeting and having taken my leave I left feeling deflated. I kept thinking that four years of ‎haggling was fruitless and the case is probably closed for good. ‎

Upon my return to the Embassy I immediately informed my two colleagues in Copenhagen and Stockholm ‎that they might face the same treatment.‎

To our surprise within two weeks of that meeting with the Norwegian Joint Secretary, we all received a ‎note from the three Scandinavian Foreign Ministries that they have agreed with our proposal to eliminate ‎visa regulations for Iranian subjects who do not intend either to work or to study in Norway. These two ‎categories needed entry visa, since they were going to stay longer than three months stay admitted to ‎ordinary tourists or visitors.‎

I would like to emphasize that we did it on our own. Our Foreign Ministry had never asked us for the ‎above; neither had they ever hinted that such an agreement was desired.‎

I am sure that my other colleagues in other countries were also doing the same thing because by 1979 we ‎had managed to eliminate visa regulations with 33 different countries.‎

So like Dr. Majidi, I am proud too for what I did for our countrymen and women. Nobody can ever deny ‎the respect with which the Iranian subjects were treated upon their arrival to the ports of any other country ‎prior to 1979. ‎

You can call us Taghooty, we are proud of it!‎

H. Hakimi,‎
Norway