2023 Author: Cody Thornton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 11:20
Was it necessary to cover the statues of the Capitoline museums depicting nudes to receive Iranian President Rouhani in Rome?
Even if you want to put aside the questionable methods of the Iranian regime due to the fact that Rouhani is considered a "reformist" premier, doesn't covering the statues of the Capitoline museums mean giving in to the culture of fundamentalism and renouncing our art?
The French would not have done it, they say, because for them the principle of secularism is sacred.
We have no counter-proof, but we can tell you that on the occasion of Hassan Rouhani's visit to Paris, a lunch with great fanfare was organized with French President François Hollande in one of the most elegant restaurants in the city (which remained top secret).
And that in the end that lunch was deleted.
Because even Hollande and his government were faced with a choice:
1. Or a lunch with presidents, without wine and with halal dishes, to respect the religion of the Iranian premier and please him
2. Or no lunch.
French government officials have long insisted that an Iran-friendly dinner without traditional transalpine dishes and especially local wines would violate republican values.
As a counter-proposal, the request for a breakfast between presidents has been filtered out, firmly rejected by Rouhani because it is too cheap.
In the end, French diplomacy made its choice by canceling lunch.
No wine, no party, dear Rouhani.
A source very close to Hollande allegedly told cameras that a great opportunity was missed to talk among presidents about important topics in the relaxed atmosphere of a lunch.
Rouhani, in response, did not miss the opportunity to praise Italian behavior in front of the French.
And we who thought it was a cultural suicide.