Swiss ambassador to Iran Nadine Olivieri Lozano was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Sunday 21 May. At issue, the publication on Friday, May 19 of a tweet condemning the execution of three demonstrators arrested during the protests against the death of Mahsa Amini.
Iran on Sunday summoned Switzerland’s ambassador over a tweet calling for a stop to executions linked to protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, Tehran’s foreign ministry said.
The Swiss embassy took to Twitter on Friday to “strongly condemn” the execution earlier that day of three men convicted of killing security force members during last year’s protests in the central city of Isfahan.
The Swiss tweet featured an image from a demonstration outside Iran showing protesters raising a poster of Amini — who died in custody on September 16 — and waving Iran’s pre-Islamic revolution flag.
Iran witnessed waves of nationwide protests following the death of Amini, 22, an Iranian Kurd who had been arrested for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic’s strict dress rules for women.
During the protests, which Tehran generally labelled as foreign-instigated “riots”, thousands of Iranians were arrested and hundreds killed including dozens of security personnel.
The executions drew sharp reactions from Western countries and was censured by human rights groups based outside Iran.
Iran executes more people a year than any other nation except China, according to human rights groups including Amnesty International.
The pace of the executions has been frantic in 2023, with the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR) now counting at least 270 executions since the start of the year.
Malo Pinatel, with AFP
