Press TV has conducted an interview with Jalal Fairooz, former Bahraini lawmaker from London, about Bahraini police firing tear gas at protesters following a funeral procession in a Shia village south of the capital, Manama.

What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview.

Press TV: First of all tell us what do you think is the solution now for this unrest in Bahrain? How should the international community intervene if it should and how can this movement lead to anywhere?

Fairooz: Well it seems that the international community unfortunately is lining with the dictatorship in Bahrain. They have their own economic interest not only with Bahrain but [also] with the Saudis. That is why they are backing up the authoritarian and totalitarian rule in Bahrain.

The people of Bahrain are only asking for their basic legitimate right to have an elected government. They have been protesting, they have been giving lots of martyrs and all these atrocities and human rights violations have not made the international community to come to their ethical basis and just ask to stop killing of the people in the streets and in the jails and to stop torture.

Even the Human Rights High Commissioner of the United Nations has asked for the Special Rapporteur to go to Bahrain. Bahrain refuses and the international community is not doing anything in that. Last month in Geneva there were some efforts but unfortunately UK and some other countries stood against anything as such.

I believe the time has come to say that unless the European countries and the rest of the world stand with the oppressed not the oppressor, then the people of Bahrain will be very frustrated  with these countries and sooner or later, you wouldn’t know, even though the opposition is trying to keep things from going to any violence and the opposition is condemning any violence from anywhere but of course we are very so afraid that things will go down the drain and we will have more violence and then all the interest of the West will be jeopardized.   

So I think we have to stand up and say you are supporting the dictatorship in Bahrain.  

Press TV: And Mr. Fairooz, we are quickly running out of time, if you could just quickly tell us, do you think that calls for national dialogue and a negotiated solution are workable and viable now?

Fairooz: There is nothing called dialogue in Bahrain only because there is this Formula One coming, starting today actually. That is why the Crown Prince made a play called dialogue and they think that they can tell the world that there is a dialogue but actually there is no dialogue.

The opposition has brought forward a complete roadmap and all the required documents and they said this is our hands, we are forward for any dialogue but the government and the regime does not want any dialogue because any dialogue will mean stop killing and stop robbing from the people’s wealth and stop being a dictatorship and start having some democracy in Bahrain. They do not want that.

AHK/HSN