Iran, under mounting criticism following the visit to Tehran last week by deposed Romanian leader Nicolae Ceausescu, ordered Cabinet ministers to remain silent about the executed dictator's trip, Tehran radio reported Thursday.
The state-run radio, monitored in Manama, said Iranian President Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani told his ministers at a Cabinet meeting Wednesday to drop the subject and follow the directive of the country's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.In the face of growing criticism from embarrassed Iranian deputies and newspapers, who called Ceausescu's visit the Islamic government's biggest "goof," Khamenei Tuesday defended Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Velayati's recommendation that Ceausescu be invited to Tehran.
Khamenei said he would not allow the country's authorities to be weakened by criticism over the visit, but angry deputies said they were dissatisfied with Velayati's explanation in parliament Monday of why Ceasescu was invited to Iran when there was so much hatred for him among his people.