TEHRAN — Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson has expressed “deep regret” over a decision by Hungary to expel 17 Iranian students on bogus charges of violating health protocols concerning the coronavirus.

“What Hungarian officials call a violation of health protocols is, in fact, the students’ objection to the improper quarantine conditions at a Budapest hospital where infected and healthy individuals were kept in one place,” Abbas Mousavi said in an interview with ISNA on Thursday.

He said even Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote to his Hungarian counterpart in this regard.
 
“But unfortunately, authorities, without realizing these conditions, pointed the finger at the university students and first issued a directive for the expulsion of three students and then 14 others without paying attention to the fact that the health protocols had, in fact, been violated by the Budapest hospital,” the spokesman explained.

“Unfortunately, the three students mentioned above were taken to a migrants’ camp in very appalling conditions before they returned to their country for fear of the coronavirus at the request of their families and through the good offices of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s embassy,” he added, according to the English version of the Tasnim news agency.                              

Mousavi said the Foreign Ministry and the Iranian embassy in Hungary had made every effort to manage the situation and prevent the expulsion of the students.

“Receiving consultation from legal counselors, the Iranian embassy helped employ lawyers and pursue the matter through legal channels with the cooperation of the students themselves and their families,” the spokesperson said, according to IFP.

Mousavi said a Hungarian court ruled that the 14 students had to be expelled, adding the students were not allowed to take their case to the court.

“There is important and admissible evidence that the Iranian students had the right to take their case to the court, but they were denied the chance,” he lamented.

“The Iranian Foreign Ministry firmly demands Hungarian officials to reconsider the verdict and prepare the conditions for the Iranian students to continue their studies.” 

Mousavi said the Foreign Ministry will keep pressing ahead with diplomatic efforts to restore the students’ rights.

According to the Foreign Ministry, about 2,500 Iranians are studying at Hungarian universities.

PA/PA