Nournews: Nowhere in the world is the disruption of public order treated with leniency. States, in line with their responsibilities of governance and public demand, respond firmly to such actions. The West is no exception: mass arrests, harsh police responses, and even the annual killing of thousands in the United States are often portrayed as normal occurrences. Yet these same countries, when faced with even the smallest security measure in Iran, swiftly activate human-rights discourse and political maneuvering. Europe’s recent positions following the incidents in Mashhad and the interventionist remarks by the spokesperson of the European Union’s diplomatic service are a clear illustration of this double standard—one rooted less in genuine concern for human rights than in their instrumental exploitation.
Europe’s Internal Crises and External Diversions
Europe’s human-rights posturing comes at a time when the continent is grappling with deep economic, political, and social crises. Its inability to achieve coherent decision-making on Ukraine, alongside its evident dependence on U.S. policies and the Israeli regime, has placed Europe in a fragile position. In such circumstances, creating distractions around Iran and exaggerating its internal issues serves as a tool to divert public attention from Europe’s domestic failures and its growing global isolation—a strategy that, in light of on-the-ground realities, has become increasingly ineffective and worn out.
A Dark Record on Freedom of Expression and Women’s Rights
Europe’s claim to champion freedom of expression and women’s rights is contradicted by numerous examples. A clear case is the treatment of an Iranian professor at the University of Arkansas for supporting Iran and criticizing the crimes of the Israeli regime—conduct that exposes the selective nature of free speech in the West. At the same time, Europe’s hosting of leaders of the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK), its support for sanctions that—according to the UN Special Rapporteur—directly target civilians, women, and children, and its silence regarding anti-hijab laws in some European countries all demonstrate that Western human rights function more as a political tool than as a principled value. Europe’s backing of the Israeli regime’s crimes in Gaza and its silence over humanitarian disasters in Africa complete this picture.
The Erosion of the Nobel Prize’s Credibility and the Western Human-Rights Order
The politicization of the Nobel Peace Prize and the biased selections of recent years—including awards granted to figures aligned with Western hegemonic objectives—have severely undermined the credibility of this institution. The same logic that bars Russia from sporting competitions while remaining silent in the face of the proven genocide committed by the Israeli regime also governs Western human-rights structures. This trajectory shows that the existing order is no longer capable of representing genuine human values, and that the world is moving toward demanding a new, fairer framework free from unilateralism.
NOURNEWS