While the world’s attention is focused on Iran’s nuclear program, the European Union and European Parliament have broadened the agenda to include Iran’s poor record on human rights in a way that has spurred new debate within the Islamic Republic.

Marietje Schaake, member of a small European Parliament delegation that visited Iran late last year, told an audience at the Atlantic Council earlier this week that the group made clear to Iranian officials that “human rights for the European Union is a priority and should remain a priority” without jeopardizing ongoing negotiations to achieve a long-term nuclear agreement with Iran. “There is not some zero sum equation between focusing only on the nuclear issue and forgetting about the plight of the Iranian people who live under systematic repression,” she said.

The five-member delegation met with Nasrin Sotoudeh, a well-known lawyer and human rights advocate who was freed from Evin prison along with about 80 other political detainees last September before President Hassan Rouhani attended the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly.

Sotoudeh's meeting with the Europeans, which took place at the Greek Embassy in Tehran, sparked a spirited debate in Iranian media, Schaake said. Many Iranians regard Sotoudeh as a “modern day hero for continuing to defend juveniles on death row and others in very difficult circumstances,” Schaake said.