Mohammad Reza Heydari

Mohammad Reza Heydari ( محمد رضا حیدری ) is a former Iranian consul in Oslo who resigned his post in January 2010 in acting against his own country's Government. He resigned due to the Iranian government's violent crackdown on protesters in the 2009–2010 Iranian election protests.

Life

Career and Education

He is bachellor of International politics from Institute for Political & International Studies, Tehran (IPIS) and served the Iranian diplomatic service for 20 years. His had 5 year missions in Georgia, Germany and the last 1.5 years in Oslo.

Resignation

Heydari quit on 7 January 2010 saying that his act is in opposition to Iran's latest Internal issues. He tried to convince other Iranian diplomats to join him in resigning their posts but remained alone as reported. Iran's Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki confirmed his resignation but said that the government had not accepted it. Heydari pay no attention to the government's opinion even in the name of loyalty.

In January after his resignation, he said he had requested political asylum in Norway, where he and his family were living. On February 17 2010, Norwegian immigration authorities granted Heydari and his family asylum. As Iran marked the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, a high-ranking Iranian defector warned that the national unity of Iran could be threatened if the government steps up its campaign of violence against opposition groups. "If they (Iranian officials) move in the direction of violence, they will not be able to control the system and we might move in the direction in which Iran's unity then might be compromised all together," Mohammed Reza Heydari, Iran's former down graded staff in consular section of Iranian Embassy in Oslo, Norway, told CNN's Christiane Amanpour. He said that he hopes the strikes, civil disobedience, and non-violent protests in his homeland will "break the back" of the government and force it to listen to what the people say. "The cause (of) bringing the message, bringing different groups together, is starting a referendum to have free elections in Iran so all these groups can stand together and bring about a democratic government to meet the demands of all religious and ethnic minorities as well," he said.

Heydari told Amanpour that the divisions in Iran are reflected in his country's embassy in Oslo. "There's chaos ... The diplomatic corps and the intelligence corps are split at our embassies right now," he said.

References

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/02/11/iran.defector/index.html

http://www.astreetjournalist.com/2010/01/15/iranian-diplomat-in-norway-confirms-he-resigned-to-protest-regimes-actions/

http://www.sefaratesabz.com/

Persondata
Name	Heydari, Mohammad Reza
Alternative names
Short description	Iranian diplomat
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death