Back in March, I blogged about the case of Mehdi Kazemi’s efforts to obtain asylum in the UK. Kazemi, who came to Great Britain to study, is gay. Upon discovery that his boyfriend had been executed in Iran and that the authorities were after him, Kazemi applied for asylum, but with no luck. Thus begun a journey to Holland and back to England, in the hope of not being deported back to a certain death.

The good news is just in: The Home Office just granted asylum to Mr Kazemi. It is a small victor,y no doubt–thousands more remain oppressed in Iran for being gay or Baha’i, for daring to criticize the regime, for organizing independent workers’ unions, or for simply showing too much skin. Perhaps this is a reminder to Europeans–who have focused their diplomatic activities with Iran on the nuclear issue alone — that it would not be so bad if Europe started pressuring Iran on its human rights record as well. After all, Europe already has a legal basis for restricting trade with Iran on the ground of human rights violations. Why not use it?