Freedom Party MP comment draws fire from Iran

Dutch MP, Wim Kortenoeven

A Dutch lawmaker’s support in parliament for a military solution to settle the nuclear disputes with Iran drew fire from Iranian authorities.

Dutch MP, Wim Kortenoeven, a member of right-wing Freedom Party called for a military option to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Iran, which has consistently denied any desire to attain nuclear weapons and repeatedly maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful, responded speedily to the comment through their embassy in the Netherlands with a statement saying; “The war-mongering, abhorrent and racist policies adopted by the Freedom Party can increasingly undermine the credibility of the Netherlands because of its policies and its anti-Islamic convictions.”

The statement stresses that Iran is a “peace loving country” but would respond to any military action against its territory in kind.

The Freedom Party has been crucial to the current government because of its role in creating the minority Dutch coalition government and it has reportedly negotiated a curb on Muslim immigration in exchange for supporting the austerity agenda.

While Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal distanced the Dutch government from Kortenoeven’s comments telling the parliament that the Netherlands had no plan on bombing Iran, Geert Wilders, the Freedom Party’s leader supported his colleague writing in an email: “My reaction to the Iranians is: Let them get lost.”