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MICHAEL D HIGGINS has accused Israel of leaking a letter he wrote congratulating the President of Iran to the press. 

Higgins made the comments today while speaking to the media in New York, where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly. 

In July, President Higgins wrote to Iran’s new president Masoud Pezeshkian to congratulate him. The letter was not officially published by the President’s office but was circulated online and received some criticism, including from members of Fine Gael.

One TD described the letter as “fawning” and “tone deaf” to the civil rights issues in Iran.

Meanwhile, former Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan told The Sunday Times that he felt Higgins’ views on Iran were “somewhat misplaced”.

“The evidence points to Iran as resisting and rejecting an ­appetite for domestic reform and being a destabilising and threatening force ­internationally across a region mired in conflict and strife,” Flanagan said.

Higgins was asked by a member of the press today about the criticism he received for the letter to which he responded: “Yes, why don’t you ask where it came from?”

The President then accused the Israeli embassy in Ireland of circulating the letter.

When asked how he thought the embassy obtained the letter he said he had “no idea”.

Higgins defended the letter and said it was “a standard one” that he has written to “many heads of state”. He added that he stressed the importance of peace in the region in the letter.

The letter was first published by the London-based The Jewish Chronicle on 29 July. 

In a statement, the Israeli embassy said it was a “baseless accusation”.

“Unfortunately in Ireland, since the October 7 invasion by Hamas and massacre in Israel , which triggered this awful war, Israel has been subjected to a high level of malicious statements and accusations that have often manifested as incitement to hatred,” a spokesperson for the embassy said.

The statement continued: “This baseless accusation is highly inflammatory and potentially slanderous and the embassy rejects it completely. The fact remains that the letter was written and thefore it is the burden of the author to defend its content, which did not mention the threat Iran poses in the region, that it calls for Israel’s destruction, that it arms and funds terrorist organisations like Hamas and Hezbollah, not to mention the violations of human rights against its own citizens.”