Hague condemned Tehran for “suppressing protest at home while claiming to support revolutions elsewhere in the region — except Syria” in a speech to a seminar organized by the newspaper.
Hague’s theme has been expressed by many others, especially late night comics. But Hague as the first major political figure to make a major point of the contrast.
“The lessons of the Arab revolutions hold true for Iran just as they apply to repressive governments across the world,” Hague said.
“Demands for respect for rights, open government, action against corruption and genuine political participation have and will spread by themselves over time … because they are the natural aspirations of all people everywhere.
“Simply refusing to address legitimate grievances about human rights or attempting to stamp them out will fail.”
While the Islamic Republic likes to say its 1979 revolution was the model for the Arab uprisings of this year, Hague said it was actually the 2009 post-election protests in Iran that served as a “precursor” of the Arab revolutions.