Their visit is being condemned by many, including the main opposition of the Iranian regime, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). Its Foreign Affairs Committee strongly condemned the travel plans and said that they are travelling to a country which is “under the rule of religious fascism” and will participate in the inauguration “of its illegitimate president”. They described the visit as “an insult to the universal human rights values of which the EU considers itself as protector and defender”.

President Hassan Rouhani is beginning the second term of his presidency. During his first term he presided over more than three thousand executions which he described as carrying out “the law of God or the law approved by the Majlis”.

He has been described by many as a moderate but he is far from it. His history shows that he has always lived by and supported Valayat-e-Faqih (supreme religious rule) and almost forty years ago during Friday prayers he called for the execution of all opponents of the regime.

During his presidency, Rouhani has ordered crackdown after crackdown and has allowed and encouraged the regime’s spread of terrorism across the Middle East, its nuclear and ballistic missile development and its meddling in the internal affairs of other nations.

It is clear that any investment in the Iranian regime will be doomed to loss. The regime’s days are numbered and nothing can bring it back from the brink of disaster. The people of Iran are fed up with the rulers of the country and they are calling for change. They took to the streets to protest the sham elections that took place saying “No to the executioner, no to the imposter; my vote is regime change”.

The visit by Mogherini and other European officials is truly shocking and abhorrent. It appears that they are trying to rescue the Iranian regime, to prop it up and to protect it from the popular unrest.

As a protector of human rights, the European Union should be standing shoulder to shoulder with the Iranian people. It should be ensuring that each and every person in Iran has the rights that they should have had decades ago. It should be condemning the Iranian regime for its crimes against humanity and it should be staying away from the inauguration of the president who won following a sham, undemocratic and unfair election.