The election of President Hassan Rohani in Iran provides a window of opportunity for democratic change, a round table discussion hosted by the European Parliament yesterday concluded.

The event, jointly organised by the Tarja Cronberg MEP and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), brought together members of the European Parliament, IFJ leaders, Iranian journalists and writers.

"There is a window of opportunity for change in Iran," said Ms Cronberg, Chair of the European Parliament delegation on Iran, who moderated the discussion. "On the eve of the election, candidate Rohani promised to release all political prisoners."

IFJ President, Jim Boumelha, described the President-elect as a man the international community can do business with, on the basis of his inside knowledge of Iranian politics. He held senior positions in the government and served as Iran's chief negotiator in the nuclear talks.

However, Boumelha cautioned against high expectations on what President Hassan can achieve for press freedom in the immediate future.

"The excitement over his election must be tempered with the expectation that he will want to tread carefully so as not to antagonize the hardliners in Iran," said Boumelha.

In the meantime, he said that the IFJ will continue campaigning for independent media, in solidarity with its affiliate in the country, the Association of Iranian Journalists (AoIJ), which was shut down in the wake of the clampdown on media in 2009.

Iranian journalists agreed that change may take time and called for European governments maintain pressure on Iranian authorities and demand genuine independence of media.

"President Rohani carries the hopes of Iranian people but it is too soon to tell what will happen," added Ali Mazrooei, AoIJ President. "But the situation of journalists remains bleak. At least 40 journalists are still in jail and there is no free flow of information. Very few newspapers are independent."

IFJ General Secretary, Beth Costa, said that Iranian journalists deserve global solidarity in their struggle for a free press.

"In this regard, the IFJ World Congress which took place in Dublin from 4 - 7 June adopted an urgent motion supporting Iranian journalists and calling for the release of all journalists and the AoIJ offices as well as a new chapter in relations between media and the government," she said.

Iran's track record on workers' rights also came under severe criticism. Stephen Benedict, Director of Human and Trade Union Rights of ITUC, accused Iran of continuously violating the rights of trade unionists, writers and journalists. These include poor working conditions, denial of licences for publications, retribution from officials and unpaid work. He also cited cases brought against Iran by the ITUC to the Committee on Freedom of Association which found on many occasions Iran to be in breach of the workers' right to organise and bargain for collective agreements.

"The only answer is more intense solidarity and focused denunciations of workers' rights violations," said Mr Benedict.

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The IFJ represents more than 600.000 journalists in 134 countries