Consul to Iranian Embassy in Norway Resigns in Protest

The regime has apparently taken its first diplomatic casualty, as its consul in Oslo has resigned in protest of the regime's brutal response to protests.

Citing the Ashura "massacre" as the last straw, Mohammad Reza Heidari personally handed his letter of resignation to the embassy's charge d'affaires, and remains in Norway. Given the persecution he would surely face upon return to Tehran, Heidari is likely to seek political asylum in the Scandinavian country. "If I go back I don't know what will happen," Heidari has stated, adding "My friends have told me that I will have problems if I go back."

The Iranian Embassy, for its part, refused to comment on the "lies and rumors" surrounding Heidari's resignation. Heydari rebutted those claims, however, telling Agence France Presse in a phone interview, "It's not true. I resigned."

Iranian embassies have been a rallying point for protests of the Iranian diaspora community since the widely-contested June election. Demonstrations have also taken place in front of the Islamic Republic's interests section (housed in the Pakistani Embassy) in Washington D.C.